The Human Elements of Harmony
by gmen15
Summary: Centered on six teenage guys that live in a fictional city in N.Y. who must pair up with the mane six to stop the rise of Discord on Earth. Will be romantic pairings later on, but nothing mature as far as that goes. ***NOW COMPLETE***
1. Chapter 1

**Wilmont Chronicles**

**Chapter 1: Meet The Bronies**

**Okay, well this is NOT going to be written for a while because of school work, but I thought that I'd still upload my first chapter to see how many people are interested in this story. This is going to be a very long story that I plan to write in my spare time over the summer.**

**I also just started watching MLP: FIM recently and am still trying to catch up to the newest episodes (I'm in season 2 right now, but still behind). So I apologize if that hurts this story at all.**

**Again, I'm not going to upload any new chapters for a while, but I'd like to hear some feedback on this first chapter to see if it interests people.**

**I do not own Twilight Sparkle or any other characters mentioned in this story besides my OC's. They belong to**

**Also later on there will be romance between Mane6XOCs. Also, I will not write anything graphic in regards to the romances. The furthest that I'll take it is kissing/making-out.**

**City Hall- Morning- November, 2 years ago**

Confetti filled the skies as people begin to celebrate the election of Christopher Drocsid to the position of Mayor of Wilmont, New York. The newly elected mayor of the Upstate city stood in front of a crowd of eager spectators ready to hear his speech. It is live on the local television news channels; local history classes are breaking from their normal schedule to watch it, and local Universities shuttle out political-science students. He is middle-aged and has a wild look about him, his eyes have an air of craziness in them, dark circles surrounding them. He is known as someone who hates organization and even discusses how the structure of the United States must be changed. For now, though, people believed that he would focus only on Wilmont.

But Drocsid had other plans.

He began his speech: "My citizens. For far too long, people have benefited at the expense of others. The youth have been oppressed by the old; the poor by the rich, the meek by the strong, the black by the white, but no more. Today is a new era, not just for Wilmont, but the entire world." He grinned at the eager crowd, which mostly consisted of people between the ages of 18 and 25. "Today we start the path for a new, and improved, world by starting here in Wilmont."

Cheers erupted through the crowd, chants of "Drocsid! Drocsid! Drocsid!" echoed throughout the city. Drocsid gave a faux smile of warmth and waves to his enthusiastic audience.

"And remember this; the problem isn't with the population! The problem is with the system!"

Cheers erupt.

"And it is _never_ fair that some live in chaos and squalor while other's live in peace and luxury! I will bring to the entire state the idea of income equality, and empowerment to the youth and poverty of the state. And I will tax the rich and feed the poor, until there are no rich no more."

Cheers erupt.

As the Mayor flashed his phony smile at the crowd, his eyes started to glow a faint yellow.

"Drocsid! Drocsid! Drocsid!"

**Wilmont- Present Day **

"Dude can you crack a window? I'm baking back here!" James Carson complained from the back seat of the SUV as he leaned his head against the seat, his long, black hair pressed up against the headrest. His feet were propped onto the passenger-side seat and his eyes were gazing out of the window at the forests that Ryan's car drove by.

"Just turn the air conditioner on! Jesus Christ, James it's not brain surgery." Ryan Davis shouted from the driver's seat. He peered back at James through the rear-view mirror as he continued to drive, his blue eyes hidden behind his sunglasses.

"Nah man, that's bad for the environment. Unlike you, I actually care about our planet."

"Ugh, can you stop with your hippie bullshit for one day? Please? Just one day, that's all I'm asking."

"Why, because it annoys your conservative ass? Too bad, it's not my fault you're the spawn of the white upper class." James laughed a bit, never taking his eyes away from the passing forests.

Ryan shrugged, "And you're from the white middle-class. Besides, it' better than being associated with pot-smoking, socialist hippies you agnostic ass-hole."

James flipped Ryan the bird before he looked away and chuckled. They had completely different political views, but their ability to understand the phrase "to each his own", made it fun to playfully rip on each other's' ideologies.

While this was going on, the third was silently sitting in the passenger seat. Carl Lewis was seventeen, as were James and Ryan. He had brown hair and violet eyes, and looked like the most average teenage boy one could imagine. Carl was sitting in the passenger seat, never averting his eyes from the road ahead. He put his hand up to shield his eyes from the rays of sun that shone into the car. Ryan saw this and laughed haughtily, "Hey Carl, I can see you squinting and shielding your eyes. You should've worn sunglasses."

Carl shrugs, "I don't let a little sunlight get in my way. I'm a strong-willed individual, unlike you."

"So in order to seem strong-willed, you'd be willing to literally blind yourself? Because last I checked, the sun doesn't give a shit how strong-willed you are."

"I guess you can say that." Carl smirked at his pretentious, poetic bullshit statement, knowing very well that's all it was, pretentious poetic bullshit.

"Why are you always so rebellious?" James asked from his relaxed position.

Carl shrugged, "I just don't give a shit what people think. I am who I am. Hey Ryan, do you mind if I change the station to something a better than rap?"

"Go right ahead man, I hate this shit anyway. There are only so many songs about banging women and shooting cops that I can take."

"Don't you mean, _or_ shooting cops?" James asked from the back seat.

"No, actually, I know there are songs out there about both."

Carl flipped to the rock station just as _Limelight_ began to play. Both Ryan and Carl loved Rush so they began to sing, much to James' chagrin. He groaned and pulled out his iPod.

"Look, not that you two don't sound like angels," James said, putting his earphones into his ears. "But I prefer listening to real singers, if you don't mind."

Ryan turned his attention back to the road. Carl kept humming the song as he watched the different small businesses pass by, each with their own memory. One shops in particular grabbed Carl's attention.

"Courtie's Magic Shop" was the local magic shop that Carl worked at until he was twelve. He used to be so fascinated with the idea of magic and accomplishing the impossible, even going so far as to stay at work late to have Mr. Courtie give him lessons. But, as everyone does eventually, he "outgrew" the "childish" passion for magic, and began to lose the sense of wonder that it had once provided.

He watched as the middle-aged Mr. Courtie cleaned his store window with the same dirty old rag that he's used for years. The sunlight reflected off of the clear glass as it became cleaner, even with the filthy method of cleaning it. Mr. Courtie turned around to look at Carl. He gave a small smile and waved to him. Carl, in turn, returned a small wave of his own. But it was very unenthusiastic.

The High School was just outside of the village on one side, while the mall was situated on the other. After passing all of the shops and going past the mall and school, Ryan drove towards the local park. Corral Street Park was very beautiful for the months of March through October. Any other time, as with the rest of Upstate New York, was a terrible mix of snow, grey, and gloominess. Carl watched as some kids, most likely between ten and twelve years old, were playing a soccer game on one of the three fields available. He smiled as his mind filled with the nostalgia of his childhood.

Because the mall, school and park were in a triangle shape in relation to each other, it was often called the "Holy Trinity" by the local teenagers. School was for "work", the mall was lazy recreation, and the park was active recreation, the three aspects that dominate High School life.

After about two more minutes of driving down the street, Ryan pulled into a neighborhood. He stopped the car in front of Carl's red house. Carl nodded to them and opened the passenger-side door to get out.

"All right boys, I'll see you at the party tonight."

"Wait, I thought I was driving?" Ryan asked, "I mean; I'm the only one of us who isn't going to be shit-faced, right?" James and Carl nodded.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Come back here in about an hour I'll be ready to go." Ryan nodded.

"Okay cool, I'll see you in a little bit."

Carl shut the door and started up to his house. Once he reached the door he knocked and waited for someone to answer. As he waited, he caught a glimpse of his reflection in one of the small windows that bordered the door. He looked at his eyes, his expressive, violet eyes that had always made him a target for verbal bullying. What guy had violet eyes? Hell, what _person_ had violet eyes. As Carl thought about this, the front door opened. Carl's mother, Lauren stood in the doorway with a warm smile.

"Good to see that you're home." She said. "How was your last day of school?"

"Uneventful." Carl said, slipping into the house. Lauren shut the door behind him and went back to the kitchen as Carl took his shoes off. He then followed her into the dining area of the kitchen where his two sisters were eating. Lisa, Carl's nine year old sister, was the older and more rebellious of the two. Anna was the younger at age six, and the only word that could describe her personality would be "innocent". Carl sat down in the seat next to Lisa. Lauren came back to the table with a plate of fish and broccoli, which she set down in front of Carl. He looked at what food he had been offered and grumbled.

"Fish and broccoli, it is a truly winning combination." He said sarcastically.

"It is if you're planning to lead a healthy life." Lauren said as she walked out of the kitchen. Lisa leaned towards Carl and whispered.

"If this is what's needed for a healthy life, then sign me up for obesity." Carl chuckled as he begrudgingly began to eat. Anna finished most of what was on her plate as Lisa did soon after. They both got up to clean their plates in the sink, which was piled up with plates that had not yet been washed.

"Hey Carl are you going to that party tonight? The one everyone in the High School was talking about." Anna asked, her innocent face beaming at Carl.

"Yeah, Ryan's coming to pick me up in an hour."

"Does mom know that you're going?"

"Yes she does," Carl said before lowering the tone of his voice to just above a whisper, "but what I do there is something she'll never know, understand?"

"You mean getting plastered?" Lisa asked as she scrubbed her plate clean over the sink water.

"I prefer the term "wasted", but whatever floats your boat." Carl finished the last of his fish and started to walk over to the sink. "Besides, I really don't get "wasted"; I just get a little tipsy. If I have more than two beers in one sitting I feel like shit the next morning."

"So you set a limit?"

"Actually, I think of it more like a "vow" to limit myself to two drinks."

"Yeah sure, in the same way Anna "vowed" never to swim in our pool again after I told her sharks could spontaneously appear in it and eat her? She just got out of the pool today." Lisa smiled and Anna glared at her.

"Hey I remember that! That was a mean for thing to say you….meany." Anna stated in a huff, her arms crossed as she walked off. Carl walked over to the sink to clean his plate with a smile on his face, as there was nothing more entertaining than watching his two sisters go at each other's throats. It was truly a hilarious sight. As he cleaned his plate, Lisa stood next to him, giving him a sly smirk.

"Carl, did you catch the newest "My Little Pony" episode?" Carl sighed.

"I told you not to talk about that shit with me. You know I'm not proud that I watch it."

"But you do watch it." She said like a know-it-all before walking away, leaving an annoyed Carl to finish cleaning his plates. He sighed and walked upstairs to his room where he shut himself away from the rest of his family so he could relax in peace for the ten minutes before he had to get ready for the party. First thing's first, he grabbed his laptop and flipped it open. He checked his e-mails and Facebook for any new messages, updates, alerts, and other stuff. He went to the local news website to read up on the new crimes that were hitting Wilmont.

You see, while Wilmont was a typical, small city, it had a very high crime rate. The crimes that were committed usually were related to gangs of anarchist teenagers or drug dealers, or some whack-jobs doing terrible things to others, such as assault, robbery, and murder. Regardless, it wasn't that the crimes themselves were out of the ordinary, just the prevalence of them. And for its size, Wilmont had a shitload of gang killings.

After reading up on two new homicides and thoroughly depressing himself into a stupor, Carl decided to surf the web for more entertaining purposes. As he did this, he looked over at a picture of his family that was on his desk. Carl, his mother, his sisters, and his father were all present. His face fell to a sad, nostalgic smile as he looked at the image of his father. About five years before, his father was killed by a gang that tried to rob him. Ever since, Carl really became the father figure of the household, or at least he tried to be. Anna and Lisa didn't really respect him enough to say he accomplished that role. Regardless, he got a job at the local coffee shop to help bring money to the table so his mother wouldn't be alone.

While he was a bit of a realist around those that he cared about, such as his mother and sisters, Carl often found ways to escape his life into fantasies that he wished were real, but knew deep down they could never be.

This was where My Little Pony came in. He first found out that Ryan was a brony while he was going through Ryan's closet to find a shirt to borrow. What he found was a t-shirt with Rainbow Dash's cutie mark on it. Ryan was humiliated and made Carl promise not to tell anyone. Carl agreed but decided to ask Ryan why he liked the show. Ryan talked about how he was drawn in by the internet, but then the characters hooked him. He discussed the quirky story lines and three-dimensional characters which, as someone who was into the prospect of writing screenplays, he found inspirational. Finally, he convinced Carl to watch some episodes, and the rest was history.

Since then, he's watched the show to escape from reality. Each time becoming more and more depressed when the episode ended. He always was a bit of a romantic in the sense that he wished for the impossible to happen. He imagined what it would be like if the characters were brought into the real world. More than anything, he wished he could meet Twilight Sparkle because she was his favorite character on the show.

Not only did she have the same eye-color as Carl, but she had the desire to learn that Carl wished he could have. She also had the type of personality that he desired in girls. She was smart, kind, even if a bit neurotic. He sighed and got up to start getting dressed.

**JAMES**

"I told you that you don't have to stop by every day." James' cousin Caroline said as she gave her cousin a big smile. Caroline was twelve and had a very pretty face with big, expressive eyes that stood out on her thin, chemotherapy-effected body. All of her beautiful, brown hair was gone, lost to the treatment, and her skin was pale as skim milk. James was sitting next to her bed in a small, white chair, putting on a hopeful, optimistic smile.

"Now how can I stay away from such a sweet girl?" James smiled and leaned in to kiss her on the forehead. He then leaned back and reached behind the chair he was sitting in, "Besides, I had to make sure you got this."

"What is it?"

James handed her a gift that was wrapped in blue paper. She tore off the paper and grinned from ear to ear. She covered her mouth and held up a t-shirt that had a picture of Fluttershy on it.

"Oh my gosh you got me a Fluttershy t-shirt?"

James nodded and Caroline leaned over and hugged him.

"Thank you so much James."

"Anytime kido." He put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "Listen I have to get going now, but I'll be back again tomorrow to see how you're doing."

Caroline nodded happily. James smiled back and hugged her one last time. "Rest up."

"I will."

With that, James left and walked out to Ryan, who was waiting for him outside. He was glad he didn't have to go home just yet, as he didn't feel like seeing his parents. They only did two things, work and criticize James. Every day, if he dressed himself they would say he looked like a slob. If he got an A- on a paper, they would be disappointed that it wasn't an A. They were extremely hard on him.

In all honesty, James only got true enjoyment out of two things. One was seeing Caroline and doing his best to make her day better. The other was My Little Pony, which Caroline got him into when he watched the show with her a few months before. He didn't just get into the show because others did, but because it made Caroline and him happy to watch it with each other. So whenever he came over to visit, he'd talk about that week's newest episode as well as Fluttershy, who was both of their favorites.

In the end, it was not just a fun show that brought James back to his child-hood; it also helped him and Caroline find happiness during such a dark time. More than that, it gave happiness to a child whose next day could be her last, and _that_ is what James appreciated more than anything.

**RYAN- During James' Time with Caroline**

Ryan waited in his car for James to get done with Caroline. He sighed as he listened to some more rock music. His arm was hanging out of the open window and he was biting his thumbnail in impatience. He lowered the visor and opened the small mirror that was in it. He removed his glasses to look at the black-and-blue eye that it concealed.

Ryan was a rich, at least according to everyone that he went to school with. His father was a doctor and his mother was a real-estate agent. Now, unlike how most forms of media portray the rich kid as the bully or the snooty kid of the school, it was Ryan who was the victim of constant assaults.

He was thankful that his parents were there for him when he needed them to be. But sometimes he'd come home after getting the shit beat out of him to find his parents absent, both at work. If this was the case, nothing could stop Ryan from going up to his room and sobbing.

Even though he hung out with James and Carl, he was always skeptical of them. He didn't trust anyone besides his parents. He lost all faith in humanity's sense of loyalty years ago.

And, like Carl and James, he was into My Little Pony. And, like his friends, there was a much deeper reason for it than just the fact that he enjoyed the show.

Ryan was never the most confident person in the world; in fact, he always put himself down no matter what he did. Whether it was something good or something bad, he'd always put himself down and focus on the bad he did rather than the good. He first watched the show after looking at some memes online that sparked his interest. Soon, he was watching it non-stop.

The reason that he liked, besides it being his form of escapism, was because of Rainbow Dash. She was everything that he wasn't. She believed in loyalty, she was confident in herself, or she projected it at least.

But more than anything it was the fact that she _was_ loyal. She was reliable. Because of certain events that had happened to him over the course of his life, Ryan always felt that loyalty was dead. Seeing her with traits like that made her his favorite character.

He always wanted to meet a girl with those traits, which was virtually nonexistent in Wilmont. Every time he saw her on the show, he'd become depressed, knowing that she, as well as her friends, were nothing more than ink on paper.

And he would never tell anyone, even Carl, that he actually felt as though he had a crush on her, which he did.

He was deep in thought about this when he heard a knocking at the passenger-side window. He nearly jumped out of his seat and dropped his glasses from the surprise. He looked over to see James through the window, a big smile on his face. Ryan rolled his eyes and James got into the truck.

"Sorry I couldn't resist." He said laughing. Ryan rolled his eyes.

"You know I believe in an eye for an eye James," Ryan said, turning the volume up on the radio as James shut the car door behind him. "So you'd better be careful when you're at your most vulnerable, and I assume that will be tonight after you chug a few beers?"

James smiled, "You have no idea."

The two friends laughed and drove off, James not saying anything about the bruise on his friend's eye.

After all, it was commonplace.

**Wilmont City Hall**

Everyone had begun to leave the offices for the day. The normally loud, busy building that echoed with arguments and debates during the day grew quieter as the end of the day approached.

Brett Howard sits in a chair outside of Mayor Drocsid's office. Brett had light brown hair and green eyes. He was about thirty-five but the stress and darkness in his face made him look a lot older. He was tapping the briefcase that was laid across his lap. He looked up when he heard the door to the mayor's office open.

Mayor Drocsid came out and turned to Brett. He smiled and hugged Brett.

"Brett; my friend. How have you been?" he asked in a cheerful way. Brett stood up and smiled weakly.

"Fine sir, I just wanted to discuss the speech that you have to give tomorrow."

"Ah yes, my speech to the public, fun times ahead."

They began to walk down the hall towards the exit, discussing the main points that the speech was to include. The Mayor grinned and, noticing that no one was around anymore, decided to become a little more personal in his discussions with Brett, "So, _Obscure Darkness_, what else have you found out?"

"Sir, are you sure it's all right to talk so openly?" Brett, or Obscure Darkness, asked.

"Of course, no one is around! Look, this building has become a ghost town! As soon as six o'clock hits people flood out of here like the place was on fire." He smiled, "So much hatred for work. It's not like back at home."

"Well Earth is a lot different." Brett said, smiling darkly. "It is a much more selfish place."

"But that makes my job a lot easier." The Mayor grinned evilly as his eyes changed to a scary, yellow color. Brett leaned back a bit at this sight.

"Jeez, tell a pony when you're going to do that, you almost gave me a heart attack."

His eyes returned back to normal, "This world is so unstructured. And those people who call for structure are shouted down by the youth. This new generation of humans, the teenagers, they're our targets."

"You've taken quite a liking to them, huh?"

"Oh Obscure, you have no idea. They want disorder; we will give it to them."

The Mayor walks over to a window and looks out at Wilmont, which is still visible under the setting sun.

"Disgruntled, entitled, arrogant, brash, jealous, nopony would expect a society like this to exist." Brett said, following the Mayor to look outside as a few cars passed by.

"Equestria may not have collapsed to my chaos." The Mayor said, "But this place will."

Brett nodded and began to walk away when Drocsid called after him.

"Oh and Obscure," he said. Brett turned around, "and I would appreciate to open the newspaper tomorrow and find Mr. Hanson in the obituaries. I know you are friends with him, but it's for the best."

Brett somberly nodded before giving a slight smile. "Yes sir."

**Party- Later**

"WOOOOOOOHOOOO, aw yeah we are getting hammered tonight bitches!" James shouted in his drunken stupor as he danced around the small house where the party was being held. There were about sixty people present at this shindig, and while most of the people there were drunk, it was clear that James was the most obnoxious. Everyone was either getting really annoyed by him or joined him in their own alcohol-induced states. Hip-hop music was blaring out of the speakers as people danced either solo, as James was doing, or with their girlfriends or boyfriends. Actually, scratch that, they weren't dancing as much as they were "grinding" on each other.

While this mosh pit was forming in the living room of the house, Ryan and Carl were standing over in the kitchen area, watching their friend make a fool out of himself. Carl was drinking a beer while Ryan just stood with a cup of water, clearly bored out of his mind.

"I think we should take him home before he hurts himself." Ryan grumbled. "Or someone hurts him out of annoyance."

"He'll be fine."

Ryan let out an obnoxious yawn.

"God this party is boring." Ryan groaned as he took a sip of water.

"Then leave, no one's stopping you. You have the car. Me and James don't live too far from here." Carl said, noticing Ryan's bored look.

"I'm not going to leave this early just because I'm bored. I don't want to be _that_ guy."

"Dude; you already are _that_ guy."

Ryan raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"

"It means you're the biggest buzz-kill on the planet. You never let your hair down to enjoy the ride; you've always got to overanalyze everything."

"I do too let myself have fun;" Ryan said defensively, "That fun just doesn't involve alcohol or sex."

"And I'd like to thank you for proving my point, Buzz Killington."

"Hey, you have beer to escape from reality, I have ponies." Ryan had a slight smirk as Carl rolled his eyes.

Carl started to walk over towards the table where the beer was and Ryan followed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and letting out a yawn. While Carl grabbed a beer off of the table and began to drink it. After finishing with his yawning session, Ryan looked over to a girl. He noticed that the girl was looking at Carl shyly, a small smile clearly on her face.

Ryan tapped Carl's shoulder, "Dude, that girl over there is checking you out."

Carl looked to where Ryan was pointing. "Which one?"

"The one with the purple t-shirt and black sweat pants."

He finally saw her, and Carl noticed something else about her. She was gorgeous. To say that she was beautiful would be like saying the sun is quite large. It was like she was a Goddess out of Greek mythology. Great body, beautiful face and an impossibly innocent smile, she was Carl's dream girl.

She began to walk over and smiled at the two. "Hi." She said with a big smile.

"Hello." They both respond in unison.

"My name is Tara. I just moved here." She extended her hand, which Carl hesitantly took and shook it. "What are your names?"

"Carl."

"Ryan." Ryan shook her hand as well.

"It's nice to meet you both."

"So where are you from?" Ryan asked as Carl was still too dumbstruck by her beauty to do anything besides stare stupidly.

"Let's just say I'm from someplace far away." She said with a smile.

"Well, that's vague as hell. Could you be any more specific?"

Tara shook her head, "I'll tell you later, if you'd like."

"Sure." Ryan said somewhat suspiciously. Carl chuckled, snapping himself out of his trance.

"So what do you like to do?"

"I love to read." She said enthusiastically, "Oh, I also love to learn."

"Read _and _learn? Heh, she's like the polar opposite of you Carl." Ryan said as he playfully nudged his side. Carl blushed and shot Ryan an angry glare. Tara just laughed.

"You remind me one of my friends." She said smiling, "she _hates_ that stuff to, well, with a few exceptions."

"Really, maybe I can meet this friend of yours and discuss how we loathe everything you love." Carl said with a somewhat flirtatious voice.

Tara smiled and chuckled, "Maybe."

"_God her voice is familiar," _Carl thought, _"Where have I heard it before?"_

"Yo what up my homies?" Shouted James as he stumbled over to the trio, drunk as a clam. "Guys, guess what? Louis has some weed over there; the shit is off the fucking chain!"

Over in the corner sits Louis in his black hoodie and backwards Nike hat. His long, brown hair is strewn around, giving him the look of a proper stoner.

"Um, James?" Ryan gestures over to Tara.

"James," Carl said to shut his friend up, "I'd like you to meet Tara. Tara, this is our good friend James. And I'd like to apologize for his vulgar language."

"Hello," she says, extending her hand, "It's very nice to meet you."

"Like…Like…." James tried to say when he suddenly turned away and vomited all over the floor. Tara jumped back at the spectacle; Carl's mouth hung open, and Ryan laughed.

"Christ James!" Carl shouted angrily, "What the fuck!"

"I think…_hic_….I've had too much."

Ryan raised his eyebrows, "You don't say."

James straightens himself up when suddenly someone grabbed him from behind and turned him. Lawrence Tomlinson stared directly into his eyes. Lawrence was pretty large, but somewhat pudgy as well. He had curly black hair and a mean-looking face. His eyes were so hate-filled that after seeing them, you would question the validity of the fact that everyone was a child at one point.

"Hey! What the _fuck_ are you doing?" Lawrence asked harshly.

"I…_hic_…don't know."

"Are you trying to ruin this party?"

"No…I."

Lawrence grabbed James' by the shirt and threw him to the ground angrily. Ryan stood up and stormed over to him.

"Hey Lawrence, why don't you go bother somebody else."

Lawrence smiled, "But I enjoy messing with you and your friends. Now I suggest you three leave this party now, or do you want me to bruise your other eye?"

Ryan bit his lip and sighed.

"Come on guys, let's go." Ryan said as he turned away from Lawrence, glaring at him until he began to walk away. But then he felt Lawrence grab him and turn him around so they were facing each other again.

"On second thought, Ryan, I think some facial symmetry would do you some good." With that, Lawrence reached back and punched Ryan in the non-bruised eye, and he fell down onto the beer-soaked carpet. He looked up at Lawrence, who was laughing at him, as were the rest of the people at the party, save Carl and Tara. Even James laughed, but that was just because he was drunk as hell. Ryan, wide eyed and on the verge of tears, pushed himself up and ran out of the house.

"Shit, Ryan." Carl said, following him out and grabbing the drunken James.

"Aw! The game isn't over yet! _Hic_…the Knicks still have a chance to win!" James complained drunkenly. Tara began to follow, but was stopped by Lawrence, who stepped into her path and held his hand out.

"Aw wait, I only said those three losers had to go." He said, grabbing her shoulder.

"Let go of me." She said angrily.

"But I want you to stay, so you're staying." Lawrence smiled his cocky smile as Tara glared at him. Her eyes suddenly had a faint purple glow about them, as did her forehead.

"You let go of me before I buck you so hard in your stallion-hood that you won't be able to mate for years."

Lawrence's eyes go wide and he lets Tara go. She gave him one last glare as her eyes went back to normal. She ran outside after Carl and the others.

"What the fuck?" Lawrence asked no one in particular, watching as Tara walked out

Outside, she saw Carl standing at Ryan's car, with James vomiting on the lawn. Ryan sat in the passenger-side of the car with tears rolling down his cheeks as he silently cried.

"Hey man, come on. It's fine."

"I know, I'm just sick of it." Ryan whimpered as he wiped some tears away from his eyes and sniffing. Tara walked over.

"Are you all right?"

Ryan nodded before looking over at James, who was hunched over the lawn, singing Kiss songs with a slurred voice as his vomiting started to stop.

"You two should honestly be more concerned about him." Ryan pointed to James. When Tara and Carl saw this, they laughed. Carl walked over to James. James raised his head slightly.

"Let me sing! They want an encore!" James shouted drunkenly. Carl pulled James up.

"There's no concert James."

"Yes there is. Th…they're shouting for me!"

"There's no audience either."

"Awwww…."

Tara put her hand to her mouth and giggled. Carl smiled at her before walking back and putting James in the back seat of Ryan's car. Ryan shut the door and turned the engine on. Ryan rolled the window down so he could still talk with Carl.

Carl turned to Tara and asked if she wanted a lift back to her place or if she wanted to go back to the party.

She smiled warmly, "Actually, I was wondering if I could go back your place for a little bit." Carl raised his eyebrows and Ryan's mouth fell open.

"Um….yeah sure." Carl said with a smile. Ryan tapped him on the shoulder and winked at him.

"Good luck." He whispered in a way that said _"Go get laid man"_. With that, he drove off into the night, James still screaming _Strutter_ from the back seat as his feet were propped up on the window.

Carl went back over to Tara, who was trying hard not to laugh. "Sorry about all of that."

Tara waved it off like it was nothing. "No problem, I'm kind of used to my friends being random. Especially this one, I swear she laws of physics don't apply to her."

Carl chuckled at this as they both began to head off to Carl's house. As they walked together, they began to talk as if they had been friends forever. Carl didn't know why, but he felt as though he knew this girl, that they've met before, but he wasn't sure when and where.

It wasn't just her familiar voice that drew his attention, either. It was her eyes, her violet eyes that mirrored his, but there was something different about them. Carl always knew his eyes to be a darker shade of violet. Only when people got somewhat close were they able to see the hint of purple that were in them. But with her eyes, the violet color shone bright as day, so that he could tell her eye color even if they were at different parts of a room. They were also the most beautiful eyes that he'd ever seen. They were large, expressive and had more innocence than any other teenager's eyes.

The full moon hung like an ornament in the sky above the town as Carl led her out of the one neighborhood and into the one where he lived. Luckily for them both his house was so close, after all it was a well-known fact that the roads of Wilmont were long, winding and distorted. Hell, you'd be lucky to find a quarter mile of relatively straight road. They finally reached Carl's house and walked up to the door. He opened the door.

"Okay, we're going to have to be quiet. My family's probably asleep." Carl whispered as he opened the door, gesturing her in, "after you."

"Wow, what a gentlecolt." Tara said happily before she walked in. Carl smiled, but then his expression fell.

"_Wait, did she just say….nah."_ he shrugged and continued into the house. Tara looked around. She found the house to be fairly nice, but at the same time sort of ordinary. There were white walls and green curtains, as well as some hints of color but it all seemed so…dull. She was used too much more vibrant, exciting, and colorful back where she came from. She did, however, like it overall.

"Wow, your house is really nice." She whispered in awe as she walked towards the living room.

"Yeah, it gets the job done." Carl shrugged. She walked over towards Carl's father's office. Well, it _was_ his office before he died. Now it was the designated library for the house.

Tara looked up at the books that filled the room and let out an excited gasp.

"Oh my gosh, how many books do you have?" she said with an ecstatic grin.

"Geez, I don't know." Carl rubbed the back of his head. "A lot, I mean, most of them used to be my fathers'. I'm not a big reader myself. It's a shame though, I really wish I was. Damn my A.D.D."

She pulls a book off of the shelf and presses it against her chest, smiling broadly. Carl chuckled to himself at how excited she seemed to be.

"You know I've never met someone as interested in books as you are."

"Really?" she asked, "I guess I'd be considered and egghead here too." she laughed a bit.

"Why would someone call you an egghead, that's not right. Besides, you seem way to cool to be called such a demeaning name."

"Aw that's sweet Carl. Thank you." She said with a blush. She then seemed to remember something as she put the book back. "Hey Carl, is it okay if we go up to your room for a minute?"

"Um….." Carl began, suddenly getting nervous, imagining where this was going. "Yeah, sure, follow me. Make sure you're quiet."

"Because your family is asleep?"

"Exactly, wow, you have a good memory."

They walked upstairs, being as quiet as they could so that wouldn't wake up Carl's mother or sisters. He felt his way around in the darkness of the hall until his hand landed on his door. He opened it and gestured Tara in. She smiled and walked into the dark bedroom. Once he shut the door behind himself, Carl turned one of his lights on so that the room was lit, but not so bright that anyone would wake up.

"Okay Tara, so, what did you want to talk about?" He turned to see that she had moved to the door and her hand was on the handle. Tara gave Carl a very serious look. Suddenly, Carl went from being nervous, to being somewhat scared.

_Click_

The door was locked. Now Carl was scared stiff.

"Heh, um….what….what are you doing Tara?" he asked nervously. Tara walked over to him, her violet eyes staring daggers into his own.

"Stop calling me Tara, you know my real name."

Carl's eyes went wide at this.

"Um….I'm sorry, _what_?"

"You know my name isn't Tara." She said sternly.

"What are you talking about? If you're not Tara, then _who_ are you?"

Tara, or at least the girl who originally went by Tara, gave Carl a slight smile.

"You know who I am, just like I know everything about you."

"Really? You know everything about me?" Carl nodded while laughing, trying to mask the fact that he was scared as hell. "Okay, go ahead and prove it. Tell me a little bit about myself."

Tara smiled and closed her eyes. Carl laughed at this, about to say _"I thought so"_ when she opened her eyes, now brighter than they were before, and began to recite an amount of information that would make a stalker green with envy.

"Your name is Carl Lewis and you are a seventeen year old human. You were born in Buffalo, New York June 7th 1995 and you moved to Wilmont in 1998 because your father needed to follow his job. You have violet eyes, much like me, but here on Earth that is considered abnormal whereas it's normal where I come from. Your favorite food is sausage pizza with a side of barbeque chips."

Carl bit his lip and rocked back and forth anxiously as Tara continued.

"Your favorite type of music is 1980's rock, your favorite band is Rush, your favorite movie is "Inglorious Basterds", and your favorite TV Show is "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic". Also, your favorite character is Twilight Sparkle, and I am quite flattered that you think that. Usually people like Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy the most."

Carl raised an eyebrow, "Why would _you_ be flattered?"

Tara smiled, "You said my voice sounded familiar, correct?" Carl nodded. "Well, close your eyes and listen to me speak and tell me where you know me from."

Carl rolled his eyes as he began to get more annoyed by this girl's antics. Giving in, he closed his eyes and shrugged, "Okay, hit me."

"The reason I had you close your eyes is because you will know who I am if you don't see me now." She began to glow a bright purple, which Carl didn't notice as his eyes were closed tight. He began to realize where he knew her voice from, "My body's a distraction to your mind. Not because of you attraction to it, but because you cannot piece together my voice with how I look. But now that you can only hear me, you'll know who I am."

Taking away the image of Tara's body made another person, rather pony, become associated with her voice.

"_But…that can't be….that's not possible."_

Carl suddenly slowly opened his eyes in hesitant realization. Once he opened his eyes, however, he realized that not only was it possible, but it was true. Standing in front of him where Tara had been a moment before, was the familiar face of a purple cartoon unicorn that he had watched in secret from everyone, except Ryan and Lisa.

"You recognize me now, don't you?" Twilight Sparkle asked with a smug smile.

At this point, Carl's eyes rolled and he fell to the ground in his room, unconscious. Twilight put her hoof near her mouth in shock. She suddenly became worried.

"Carl!" She ran over to his unconscious body and looked him over. Realizing that he just passed out, she sighed in relief. "I probably should have handled that better."

**Okay, that's my sample. **

**I won't be posting anything new for a while, but I just wanted to see what you guys think.**

**Please read and review about what you thought. Thanks :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Revelations and Answers**

**I know I said it would be a while before another update, but this chapter was already partially written so I decided to post it up. Warning, it is LONG. God I can't believe this is one chapter, but whatever.**

**And, as usual, I only own my OC characters.**

**Carl's House- Night**

"Hey, come on Carl, wake up. I'm sorry if I scared you."

"That ain't gonna do it, what in the hay did ya do to him sugarcube?"

"I just showed him what I really looked like and he passed out."

"Oh for the love of Celestia, Twilight you don't just show yourself like that. Geez I thought a brainiac like you would know that."

"You know this isn't helping anypony Rainbow Dash."

"What do you think we…um…we should do, if you don't mind me asking?"

"_Ugh wha….am I surrounded by girls or something?"_ Carl thought groggily as he began to come to.

His vision was still quite blurry when he initially opened his eyes. He began to rub them so he could make out the six colorful figures that stood in front of him. As his vision came back to its full power, his mouth dropped open in pure shock at the six cartoon ponies sitting in front of him, looking _exactly_ as they did in the show. They were Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. As for their size, they were about two and a half feet in length on all fours, but could reach one's chest or chin is standing on two. They were either looking at him with concern, or in Pinkie Pie's case, with an excited smile.

"Oh! He's awake! Hi! My name's Pinkie Pie and I'm so glad to meet you! I love to meet new ponies, or animals, or…whatever you are. Sorry, I forgot what the Princess said about you, but I'm SUPER excited to be here!" She was cut off when Rarity put her hoof up to silence her.

"Enough darling, can't you see we've traumatized the poor boy enough without you pestering him."

Carl was too stunned to even faint anymore. Here he was, on the floor of his bedroom staring into the faces of the six cartoon ponies that he watched every night in the secrecy of his own room, doors locked and all.

Twilight noticed the look of shock on his face and walked up to him. "Carl, are you all right?"

"Um yeah…" Carl said, rubbing his head, "I'm just wondering what bastard put LSD in my beer."

"LSD, what's that?" Twilight asked.

"Ohhh, Ohhh! I think I know! Isn't it an acronym that stands Laughing Sugary Donut? Oh I'd love some LSD right now!"

Carl mentally face-palmed at this, _"Wow, one minute of being awake and I've already corrupted their minds. Great job Carl." _Carl groaned and shook his head. Twilight put her hoof on his shoulder.

"You don't believe we're really here, do you?"

Carl shook his head. "No, I don't."

"Well, we're right here in front of ya. Do ya not believe yer own eyes or sumthin'?" Applejack asked.

"Yeah I mean, _come on_." Rainbow Dash said in an aggravated tone. She then looked at Carl. "What do we need to do to get you to believe that we're real?"

"It's not that simple, you're asking me to forget what years of experience and maturity have taught me…."

"Ah can help ya with that." Applejack walked up, turned around, and bucked Carl in the gut. Carl collapsed in pain.

"Applejack!" Twilight shouted angrily. "Why did you do that?"

"What? Ah did it to prove to him that we're real. After all fake things don't hurt. Besides, ah didn't buck him too hard."

"I think I have internal bleeding." Carl mumbled from his position on the floor, clutching his abdomen.

"Pft, wow Twilight, how did you get stuck with such a drama queen? I hope the guy I'm partnered with is cooler" Rainbow Dash said.

Carl looked up at that, "Partnered with? What do you mean partnered with?"

The six mares looked at each other before looking back at Carl, who was now even more confused than he was when he first woke up, and that was saying something. Twilight sighed, "Carl, we need to talk to you about why we're here."

"We aren't here just because you're a fan of our fantastic show or because Twilight accidentally cast a spell that sent us here." Rarity chimed in.

"Well, there go two of the main explanations that fan-fictions use." Carl mumbled before he looked back at the girls. "But then why are you here."

"Ummm. Princess Celestia sent us….I hope that us being here isn't too much of a problem for you." Fluttershy said, looking down and nervously pawing her hoof on the carpet, her big eyes looking up nervously at Carl.

"_Oh God the typical "cute Fluttershy" moment, must…resist…giving in….. to…d'awwwwww…fuck it's hard."_ Carl thought.

"Anyway, first let's start from the beginning. We know that you've seen all of our adventures." Twilight said. "So you don't have to worry about us thinking that you're stalking us."

"That's good. But, how do you know?"

"Celestia told us about y'all here on Earth before we left." Applejack said.

"Hey, I have a super-duper-quick question. Are we, like, celebrities here?" Pinkie Pie asked in her typical, excited manner.

"Yeah, yeah you are, definitely." Carl said. Pinkie Pie let out a squeal of joy and hopped around the room. He then turned to Twilight. He raised his eyebrows and motioned with his hand for her to _keep going_.

"Oh sorry," Twilight said, blushing. "Well then you know all about our battle with Discord, correct?"

Carl nodded.

"Well, when we trapped him in stone…."

Carl held his hand out. "Let me guess, he got out?" Carl asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, technically yes, but not in the way you'd expect. You see, his body is still in Equestria. It's just, his soul isn't." Rarity finished for Twilight.

"His soul isn't?"

"He abandoned his body to find another world to inhabit, a world where he could grow stronger, a world of chaos." Twilight said.

"What do you mean?"

"Ugh! Does she have to spell it out for you?" Rainbow Dash asked, again annoyed, "Discord found this little universe of yours and came here. He is now in a human form until he can gain his powers back and take over both this world and Equestria. Geez, now I feel like an egghead for explaining it. Thanks a lot." She crossed her arms angrily and looked away, pouting.

"So, Discord is here?"

"He is trying to build up his strength so he can turn back into a Draconequus and take over both universes?"

"Pretty much." Fluttershy said quietly.

Carl turned to Twilight and pointed to her, "And, you turned yourself into a human and came to be because….?"

"Oh, actually I was never a human; I just cast a spell that made all humans see me as one. I never physically changed. I was a pony the entire time, I just messed with your mind a bit." She said proudly.

"So projecting false identities by messing with the brain of another individual?" Carl asked. Twilight nodded, still smiling in pride. Carl chuckled. "Not bad Twilight, that's actually a pretty cool spell." Twilight brushed it off, but still blushed at the compliment.

"Please, call me Twi. We're going to be working together anyway." She gave him a warm smile that could probably melt a glacier with its cuteness. Carl quickly snapped out of it. And by "it" I mean his state of "d'awwwwww", which climbed to near diabetic proportions since he woke up.

"Why do you keep saying that? What does it mean that we'll be working together?" Carl asked.

"There are six human males that represent your world's Elements of Harmony. And your element is the same as mine, magic. Therefore, we are paired together."

"So what you're saying is that I am an Element of Harmony for Earth, and there are five other as well," he asked and waited for Twilight to nod before he continued, "And we need to stop Discord from gaining his strength back here and overpowering both Earth and Equestria?"

"Yep, about sums it up!" Pinkie Pie said happily.

Carl nodded, "Okay, I'm still mulling over the possibility that someone drugged me and you don't exist. Either that or someone performed Inception on me so I think you six are real, God-damn you Christopher Nolan."

"Don't you mean Coltopher Nolan?" Asked Rainbow Dash.

"Who?"

"Duh! Coltopher Nolan; he's the best director in all of Equestria!" Rainbow Dash shouted excitedly. "His movies are smart, awesome, and kick so much flank!" She pumped her fists into the air (what? Would you expect Rainbow Dash not to like a pony version of Christopher Nolan? Well I believe she would and that's all that matters, even if his movies may be a bit "brainy" for her tastes).

"Wow, just….okay I'm going to lie down until this drug wears off." Carl said, going over to his bed and falling onto the mattress. He let out a groan. Rarity ran up to him.

"Wait, darling! What if you got somepony else to see us and if they do, then you know we're here." Rarity asked.

Carl looked up at her, "First isn't "somepony" in this world, it's "somebody", and secondly…that's actually not a bad idea Rarity." He nodded, pulling his phone out, "Hang on, I'm going to call my friend."

**James' House- Night**

Ryan had finally arrived to James' house after leaving the party. Ryan supported James from his car to his front door by acting like a "crutch" for him. James' body was as limp as a fish that had just been hooked. His shirt was stained with his vomit as well as alcohol.

"So….how….how was the party?" James mumbled to Ryan.

"It was awesome man, just awesome." Ryan said somewhat unenthusiastically, still rubbing his swollen eye with his free hand. "You were, truly something I'll tell you what, singing KISS songs and shit. You truly rocked the night away."

"Haha….good to…_"hic"…_to know man." James opened the door to his house and entered. "And the king…._hic_….has arrived to his palace!"

Ryan chuckled, "Good night man."

"Peace my brotha' from a conservative motha'!" James said with a laugh before he entered the house and began to air-guitar and sing "Detroit Rock City". Ryan shut the door behind James and laughed some more. He was on his way back to his truck when he heard his phone go off.

He looked at who was calling and picked up, "Carl, what's good? I thought you'd be asleep by now."

"_I know man, some stuff came up. Listen, could you come over for a minute, I need your help with something."_

"Uh yeah, sure. I just dropped James off so I'll be over in about fifteen."

"_Okay, sounds good."_

Ryan hung up, a perplexed look on his face. _"Why would he be calling?"_ He thought to himself for a second. He then shrugged and got into his truck and started off to Carl's house.

**Carl's House**

Carl pocketed his phone and rubbed his eyes, "Okay, my friend will be here in a little bit. Now if he sees you, I'll know you're real because he doesn't drink or do anything like that. He's like the male version of Mother Theresa with that stuff."

"Um…what does drinking have to do with anything?" Fluttershy asked. Twilight leaned into her ear and whispered and Fluttershy nodded. "Oh, that's right. I remember the Princess told us about that. We don't have anything like that on Equestria."

Carl looked surprised. "Seriously? Wow, with all of the partying that goes on there, I thought that you'd definitely have something like alcohol."

"Look, Carl, no offence to your world but I didn't have much fun at the party we were just at. I mean the music was too loud, people acted like…well…like they weren't themselves. And based on what Celestia told me, it was due to the stuff people were drinking, right? Alcohol, was it?"

Carl chuckled, "Yeah, your parties seem much more innocent. Ours are a bit more on the chaotic side. Here you'd probably need to be hammered to actually enjoy yourself, which is why my friend Ryan hates going to parties."

"Oh what does hammered mean! Hang on!" Pinkie then pulls a hammer out of nowhere (literally nowhere) and raises it above Twilight's head. "Hang on Twilight; I'll help you enjoy parties here!"

"No! Pinkie, that's not what I meant! I meant drunk, not hit with a hammer! I'm sorry for the confusion."

"Oh, okey dokey lokie." Pinkie smiled and tossed the hammer behind her. It landed with a "thud" on Carl's carpet.

Carl sat on his bed and began to talk more with the six girls, discussing the internet and other aspects of human life that Celestia didn't really go over with them about. He even showed them his iPod and had them listen to music on it. It was interesting, really, to see what their tastes were. In the short amount of time they had before Ryan arrived, Carl had made Twilight into a Hans Zimmer fan and Rainbow Dash into a Van Halen and Guns N' Roses fan.

Eventually, the doorbell rang downstairs and Carl stood up to go answer it.

"All right guys, you six have fun playing with my iPod and I'll be right back." He jogged off.

Because his sisters and mother were very heavy sleepers, the doorbell didn't get their attention at all as they slept soundly in their beds, which made Carl thank God for this lucky trait that his family was "blessed" with. Except for when he overslept his alarm and missed the bus; that always _sucked_.

When Carl opened the door, he saw Ryan standing outside, a casual, yet inquisitive, look on his face.

"Hey man, what did you want?"

"I need you to come upstairs with me right now and tell me what you see in my room."

"Um….okay? Should I be concerned?" Ryan said somewhat uneasily. Carl rolled his eyes.

"It's nothing bad, I swear. Actually, if it is real, you'll think it's awesome."

"Awesome you say, hm?" Ryan asked. Carl nodded and Ryan gave a small shrug. "Why the hell not, lead the way!"

The two friends climbed the stairs to Carl's room, where the sounds of six girls giggling could be heard. Carl quickly got in–between Ryan and the door to stop him from entering. He looked at Ryan square in the eye.

"Look dude, you've got to promise me, above all else, that you won't freak out or scream at what you see."

Ryan raised his right hand and said. "I swear to the good Lord Jesus Christ that I will remain calm." Carl breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good, because it's going to blow your mind." He opened the door. Ryan stepped into Carl's room and his eyes suddenly went wide as he saw all six ponies in front of him, sitting on Carl's bed with his iPod. Carl shut the door and turned to see Ryan and the girls' reactions. They all stared at him and Ryan gave Carl his answer to the question _"are the mane six really in my room"_ with one, long syllable.

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh…" Ryan droned.

"Ooohhh another human we can throw a party for!" Pinkie pie jumped into the air, "Do you like parties? Oh wait I forgot to ask you what your name was. What's your name?"

Ryan snapped himself out of his trance and looked down at the excited Pinkie Pie.

"My n-name, is…R-Ryan." He muttered, looking at each, individual pony in front of him. "Wow this is unbelievable. I can't believe you're all real."

"Well believe it, 'cause I don't want Carl to keep calling people up for proof. This room is crowded enough as it is." Rainbow Dash said with her typically annoyed tone.

When Ryan laid his eyes on Rainbow Dash, his favorite pony on the show and possibly favorite cartoon character of all time, he turned a bright red and looked away from her. She noticed this, "Hey, dude, are you all right?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, I am. Thanks. It's just; it's an honor to meet all of you."

Now when Ryan said "all of you" he did mean all of them, definitely, but he also used it as a way to avoid saying "you" directed only at Rainbow Dash. Carl noticed his blush and how much he was clearly holding back in regards to his emotions. But he thought it was just him holding back his fan-boy-gasm. He tapped Ryan on the shoulder.

"Um Ryan, can I talk to you outside?"

Ryan turned to Carl and nodded. Both boys left and shut the door. As soon as the door was shut, the six ponies began to laugh.

"Oh my gosh, did you see how he acted around us? It was like we were his heroes." Twilight giggled.

"Yeah, especially Rainbow Dash over here. I think he has a bit of a crush on you." Rarity said suggestively.

"No." Rainbow Dash said defiantly, "He doesn't have a crush on me, he just knows how awesome I am. And who'd blame him?"

"Um Twilight, darling, if you don't mind, I was wondering if you know how to figure out who the other five elements are." Rarity asked. Twilight put a hoof to her

Twilight shrugged, "I don't know, the only thing that the Princess told me was that they'd know each other," her ears perked up at that, "Wait, hang on I'll be right back girls."

She left the room, using her magic to open the door. Twilight ran towards the front door of the house. Outside, Ryan was having his fan-boy attack.

"Okay Ryan, listen, you just need to calm down."

"How can I calm down dude? Do you know how awesome this is? We're living every bronie's dream! The mane six are in your house!"

"Yeah, I don't need to be told that."

Suddenly Ryan stopped with his excitement as a serious thought crossed his mind. "Wait, why are they here anyway? Did Twilight mess up one of her spells or something?" Ryan asked.

Carl was about to answer when they heard someone, or somepony, clear their throat behind them. They turned to see Twilight standing there, looking at them.

"Oh hey Twi, what's up?" Carl asked as he tried to get used to calling her "Twi", as if he were friends with her for longer than two hours.

"Not much. Ryan, could you come here for a second?"

Ryan nodded and walked over. Twilight got onto her back-legs and put her fore-hooves onto Ryan's chest. She put her horn, which was glowing purple, against Ryan's heart and closed her eyes to concentrate on something. Ryan was somewhat nervous at having Twilight do this to him, but he didn't complain. After all, it was too cool not to get bit excited at what was happening. Twilight's eyes went wide and she stepped off of Ryan. She gave him a big smile, which confused Ryan.

"Hey Rainbow Dash!" she shouted up the stairs.

"Yah?"

"Get down here!"

Again, thank God Carl's sisters and mother were heavy sleepers.

With bullet-like speed, Rainbow Dash zoomed down the stairs and landed right next to Twilight. She went into a military salute. Ryan chuckled at this, _"Typical Rainbow Dash."_ He thought happily.

"Calm down R.D." Twilight said before she turned to Ryan.

Rainbow Dash relaxed from the salute, "Why did you call me down here Twi?"

"Well I just checked Ryan out and it looks like we found our second element." She smirked, "He's the Element of Loyalty."

With that, Twilight looked back to Ryan and gestured her hoof towards him. Ryan just stared at them both. "Wait, what do you mean I'm the Element of Loyalty?"

"You're Earth's Element of Loyalty, just like Carl is the Element of Magic for Earth. Therefore, you're partnered up with Rainbow Dash." Twilight said.

Rainbow Dash looked at Ryan, and he looked back at her. She gave him a heart-warming smile.

"So I'm partnered…with…_Rainbow Dash_?" Ryan asked in shock and Twilight nodded.

Ryan just stood, unmoving, and held back all of the joy that he felt at that moment to a tolerable degree. He then spoke, in as calm a manner as he could; "Not gonna lie, that's freaking awesome."

Rainbow Dash chuckled, "You're such a fan-boy. I think I'm going to like having you as a partner." She said with her enthusiastic smile. She then extended her hoof and Ryan knelt down to "brohoof" it. Not sure if that's what it would be called with one of the mane six, but I digress.

"Ditto." Ryan said happily. Carl decided to save Ryan from himself by changing the subject.

"Hey Twi, maybe we should go back into my room before neighbors see you guys." Carl suggested. Twilight gave a small nod and all four went back inside the house.

Back in Carl's room, the eight of them all talked and connected for a before they noticed the time.

"Oh geez, it's late. Listen I need to head back home now." Ryan gestured to the door and started to get up. Carl got up too but Ryan stopped, just thinking about something else. "Hey, you know I could take two of them off of your hands if you want. After all, hiding six ponies would probably be difficult."

"Good point," Carl pondered, putting his hand to his chin, "okay, if you want you can take Rainbow Dash and one more."

"Applejack." Ryan said almost immediately. Carl looked at him with curiosity at Ryan's quick answer. Ryan shrugged, "What? She and Rainbow Dash are best friends. It only makes sense."

"Okay, you take them and I'll keep the other four. And don't have any more fan-boy spasms, deal?"

"Deal." Ryan and Carl shook hands.

**Meanwhile at a Diner**

Waitresses began to make their last rounds to the few customers that remained in the small diner. Two customers sat in the corner of the diner, laughing with each other. One was Mayoral Candidate Jacob Hanson; the other was none other than Brett Howard.

"So then they told me, that's not a hat! That's his hair!" Mr. Hanson said with a laugh. Brett also laughed at that.

"That's brilliant, just brilliant."

They each took a bit out of their food. Mr. Hanson swallowed some of his sandwich.

"So how's the wife Brett?" he asked.

Brett shrugged, "She's good, nothing much to say."

"Are you sure you like working for Mayor Drocsid?"

"Positive," he said, looking up, "he's a really nice person once you get to know him. A bit eccentric, but he has many admirable ideas."

"Well, we'll see come debate time whose ideas are more "admirable" to the public." Mr. Hanson chuckled, "Every campaign ad he pushes against me will tell me everything I need to know about him as a person. Whether he's cut-throat or has some shred of humility."

Brett laughed, "You always were good at deciphering people." Brett took a sip of his coffee and reached for his coat. "And I know you already told me that you would not pull out of the race for anything."

"That is correct, Brett, and don't you even try to convince me otherwise." He said flatly, "You may be on the other side of the political fence as me, but I still like you as if you were part of my own campaign team, after all, we're friends."

Brett wiped his mouth with his napkin. He let it fall to the table and gave a dark smile, "I'm sorry Jacob, but that's just not good enough for me."

Mr. Hanson gave Brett a quizzical look when he suddenly felt his throat closing up. His eyes went wide as he looked at Brett, who was intently staring at him, a black aura forming in his eyes and around his head.

Slowly, Mr. Hanson was lifted into the air, about three feet above the table, with his legs dangling and gurgling noises coming from his throat. The waiters and people who were finishing their meals watched in horror at what was happening in front of them.

Brett slowly began to change as the black aura engulfed him. Mr. Hanson watched in horror as the light disappeared; revealing a dark, black Unicorn with a mane and eyes that were steel grey.

"Brett?" Mr. Hanson gurgled out.

"Not quite," Obscure Darkness muttered, "In this form, I prefer Obscure Darkness."

With that, he rotated his hoof and Mr. Hanson's head turned quickly and violently to the right. A loud "snap" was heard as his neck broke. Obscure Darkness threw his body across the diner into the window, causing his body to smash through the glass and land in a bush just outside. Obscure smiled and looked around at the waiters and patrons that were staring at him.

"Oh now we can't have witnesses can we?" he chuckled evilly as the black aura once again surrounded him. "Allow me to show you my gratitude for a lovely meal."

All of the waiters and customers were too frightened to move as he blasted out a huge aura, destroying the entire diner and killing all people inside. Slowly, his body lowered and he looked around at the rubble that was once the diner.

Fire and debris surrounded him. Bodies were strewn across the ground around Obscurity, who could only smile at the scene.

"Chaos runs this world, and chaos shall destroy it. Elements of Harmony can't grow in corruption." With that, he closed his eyes and teleported away, leaving the mess for the fire department and EMTs.

**Street- Night**

Ryan was almost back to his house with Rainbow Dash and Applejack in the back seats of his car. He had mixed feelings at the moment. For one thing, he was with his two favorite characters from the show, one of whom he had a crush on.

The other feeling was anxiety. You see, since Ryan was an only child that meant his parents had an extremely close relationship with him. While this was a good thing in many respects, it also led to a lack of privacy. He also knew that he'd have to find a way to sneak them into the house without his parents noticing.

"Ryan, are ya okay? Y'all seem stressed out over somethin'." Applejack asked, leaning forward with her hooves on both the driver's seat and the passenger seat.

"I'm just trying to figure out how to get you guys into my house without my parents noticing." Ryan said with a sigh.

"Can we get into your room from the outside?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yeah, but it's on the second floor."

"That's perfect! I could fly me and Applejack up to your window and you could let us in."

Ryan nods, "That's actually a great idea. God why didn't I think of that? Thanks Rainbow Dash."

"Please, call me Dash." She said smiling. "After all, we are both elements of loyalty."

"And y'all can call me AJ if ya'd like. Ah know it's easier than say'n "Applejack" all the time." Said Applejack with a smile as Ryan nodded.

"Okay, cool." Ryan said with a smile as he turned his attention back to the road.

Now, Ryan was what many people would call an "escapist", where he would always imagine scenarios like this and wish it could happen to him. Any time he would read MLP human in Equestria stories, or ponies on Earth stories, he would become depressed, knowing that it wasn't possible.

Well, until now that is.

Ryan slowly pulled up into his driveway he pointed to the side of the house.

"My room is over there, I'll gesture you in when I get up there and you can fly up."

Both Rainbow Dash and AJ nodded. Ryan got out of the car and opened the back door to let the two ponies out. He gestured for them to go to the side of the house as he made his way to his front door. He knocked on the door and his mother opened it up. She smiled at him.

"Hi Ryan, how was your night?"

"Chaotic and noisy, you know how parties are."

She laughed "Yes I do, come on in."

Ryan made his way into his house as his mother shut the door. He kicked his shoes off and walked over to his father's office, where he was placed in front of the computer, paying bills. When he saw Ryan's face, he looked up over his round glasses and smiled.

"Hey Ryan."

Ryan smiled, "Hey Dad, what are you doing?"

"Just some bills, nothing interesting. How was the party?"

Ryan shrugged, "Some alcohol, some grinding, typical teenage fun."

"You didn't drink, did you?" his father asked sternly. Ryan shook his head.

"No of course not, Dad, you know I won't touch beer at least until I'm of age."

"You know you don't always have to be such an angel," he said, "I mean, I'm glad you don't drink as I don't think you should be doing so. But I just hope you aren't acting "holier than thou" about it."

"No of course not." Ryan said. "I respect others' choices as long as they accept mine."

Ryan's Dad smiled and nodded, "Good for you."

Ryan smiled and then let out a fake yawn, "I'm sorry Dad, I'm…_yaaawwwnnn_…..really tired. I'm gonna hit the hay, I'll see you tomorrow."

"All right, good-night Ryan. I love you."

"Love you too." He then proceeded to go to the stairs when he called out to his mom, "Good nigt mom! Love you!"

"Love you too Ryan!"

Ryan jogged up to his room and shut the door, making sure to lock it. He quickly walked over to the window and opened it. He looked down to see Applejack and Rainbow Dash talking to each other. Ryan whistled to get their attention. They both looked up.

"What took ya so long?" Rainbow Dash whispered harshly.

"Sorry about that, I just had to say hi to my parents." He gestured to them. "Come on up."

A few seconds later, Rainbow Dash flew through the window while carrying Applejack, and put her onto the floor of Ryan's room. Ryan quickly shut the window and locked it. The two ponies looked around at Ryan's room. They both seemed impressed.

"Wow, ya'll got a nice room here Ryan."

"Ha-ha, thanks AJ."

"Yeah, why is it so much bigger than Carl's?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Carl started to get nervous, he hated talking about how his parents were rich because he didn't want to sound self-conceded.

"Well, you see my parents both have really good jobs so they tend to, oh God how can I say this without sounding self-appreciating? Um….." Ryan couldn't think of what he wanted to say. Applejack extended her hoof.

"Say no more, ah understand. You're parents make a good amount o' money."

"Yeah, that's it." Ryan said.

"I think that's great, good for your parents. Why are you so nervous about telling us?" Applejack asked with some confusion.

"Yeah, what's the big deal?" Rainbow Dash asked, "I mean, if I was rich I wouldn't be so nervous about telling others. In fact, I'd probably be bragging about it non-stop, which wouldn't be right, but that's how I'd act."

"Ya got that right," Applejack said before turning to Ryan, "and if there's anyone who can appreciate hard work, it's me."

"Me too." Rainbow Dash added cheerfully.

Ryan was at a loss for words. His entire life he'd always been afraid of telling people that his parents were rich for fear that people would become jealous or think that he was being rude or inconsiderate. In a matter of a minute, both Rainbow Dash and Applejack managed to make him feel more confident in tat aspect.

"Wow, t-thank you."

"You still didn't answer our question about why you're so timid." Rainbow Dash stated, taking a step closer to Ryan.

"Well, you see, Earth is a lot different than what I assume Ponyville is." Ryan sat on his bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Okay, let me ask, how do ponies act towards people with more money than them? Are they jealous?"

Both ponies looked at each other and shrugged, "Eh, you'll get the occasional envy, but typically everypony is mighty respectful of each other's income." Applejack looked at Ryan quizzically, "I assume that's not the case here?"

Ryan chuckled, "Not even close. Actually it's probably the opposite of what you'd expect. The stereotype is that the rich always trample on the poor, and it has been true in many cases."

He sighed as his two friends trotted closer to him and looked at him with eager eyes, pleading for an explanation.

"But here in Wilmont, at least recently, it's been the opposite. If you're rich, it doesn't matter what you do for your money, or how hard you work. You are the enemy. For the past few years this has been the case, especially with the economy and the high unemployment. The local government wanted to shift the blame so they began to push it towards the people who are….like my family."

"So people hate you guys just because you're rich and they associate you with other rich people who are actually jerks?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Ryan shrugged his head, "Yeah, but it's only the extreme nut-cases. But the amount of nut-cases is increasing. It's getting out of hand, especially with the anarchist gangs that have been forming here. Not to mention all of those assholes at school who keep taking my things and beating me up because of it."

"That's terrible." Rainbow Dash said. "I couldn't imagine anypony having to go through that."

"Thanks Dash."

Suddenly Applejack and Rainbow Dash went up and hugged Ryan.

"Well, we don't care how much you make. You are our friend." Applejack said.

"Thanks you guys, I really appreciate it."

They broke the hug and looked at each other.

Ryan chuckled, "Wait, why are we talking about something so depressing, I'm here with Applejack and Rainbow Dash, two of the coolest ponies in Equestria." The two looked up at him and smiled at the compliment. Ryan shook his head. "Do you guys want to do anything or just go to sleep?"

The both agreed that sleep was probably for the best, especially considering how late it was. Ryan decided to let them have his bed for the night and he'd take the floor. The next day he'd find a way to make sure they could have the guest room.

Maybe tell his parents? After all they were almost like his best friends; they'd probably be cool with it.

Nah, not yet at least.

Ryan pulled out his sleeping bag and got in. He reached up to the lamp beside his bed. The two girls looked at him with smiles on their tired faces.

"_Lord I'm probably going to get diabetes from all of this cuteness."_

"Good night girls."

"Good night, Ryan."

"Goodnight sugarcube."

With that, Ryan turned the light off and entered his dream, suddenly less exciting than they used to be.

**Carl's House- Night**

Everyone was asleep in Carl's room. Because his mother never went into his room without asking, and because he had a lock to his room, he could afford to have Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity all laying on his bed with him.

He initially wanted to sleep on the floor, but they refused to let him do so.

"Darling this is your house and you should sleep in your bed." Rarity said earlier.

"No, I won't have you guys sleep on the floor." Carl hissed.

"Well then we can all sleep on the bed!" Pinkie Pie said.

That was about fifteen minutes ago, now everypony was asleep on Carl's bed, only Carl was awake. The four colorful ponies that lay in different areas of his bed initially made him feel uneasy, but he eventually got used to it. Now it was comforting.

But he was concerned about where Discord could possibly be, or rather _who_ he could be. Was he someone in power? Someone he knew? A friend of his? He kept mulling these thoughts over when he felt Twilight tap his shoulder. He turned to see her looking at him.

"Hey Carl." She whispered, "Look, I'm sorry about earlier tonight. I didn't mean to freak you out that much."

Carl smiled, "It's okay Twi."

"So you aren't mad?"

"How could I ever be mad at any of you girls?" Carl asked with a smile. Twilight smiled back at him.

"Why am I your favorite anyway? I mean, it probably has something to do with us being connected by our elements but, I'm just curious what you did you like about me?"

"Well let's see, where do I begin?" Carl began, Twilight looking at him with great interest; "You're smart, you're kind, and you always seem to be the moral compass for your friends. I really like that, not just because I wish more people were like that, but because I wish that I was more like that."

Twilight closed her eyes with a wide grin, satisfied that she meant so much to someone.

"I bet you're more like that than you give yourself credit for." She whispered, "You're a very kind person Carl."

Carl smiled back and reached his hand out. Slowly, he stroked her mane. She responded by happily nuzzling into his hand. Her violet eyes were open and looking directly into his own violet eyes. He puts his hand down and blushed profusely.

Twilight giggles and closes her eyes again, "Good night Carl."

"Good night Twilight." Carl said, but he didn't go to sleep. He was too much in though at why he just reacted like that. I mean, sure, he always thought Twilight was cute, but he never felt like it was anything romantic.

Now he wasn't so sure.

**James' House- Morning**

James let out a groan and puts his hand to his forehead in pain.

"Fuck me, what happened last night." He mumbled. He felt like shit. His head felt like it was going to explode, he felt like he had pressure behind both eyes, and he felt a mix of nausea and dehydration. He stood up and walked over to the bathroom just across the hall and shut the door.

He jumped into the shower and began to try to wash away the hangover. Streams of water ran down from the top of his head to his feet, and then into the tub. It danced around his feet before going down the sink.

James clutched the wall that surrounded the tub, crouched down, and vomited bile. He then gagged and slid down the wall onto his hands and knees. He began to cry silently, not happy with how he was acting at that moment, strands of vomit dripping from his mouth and landing in the water around him.

The strange thing is, he got drunk a lot and it never bothered him. But for some reason, this particular time, he felt bad about it; and he couldn't figure out why. Most of the time he'd just feel like garbage when he got home and felt the need to drink, which he made sure never to tell his parents.

Slowly, he made his way back up to his feet and let the shower water rinse the vomit and tears off of his face.

When he finally finished, he dried off, got dressed, and made his way down the stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs he saw his two parents and his older brother, Patrick. Patrick was the gifted child, the one that his parents clearly favored. The one he always competed with and his parents always used to patronize James with. They would say, _"Why did you get a B? Patrick got an A- on the same test when he was your age?"_

He knew that his parents were disappointed in him. He also had a feeling that any slip-up that he made while he still was under their roof, such as caught with beer or watching "My Little Pony", would result in him being thrown out in the street in shame.

He sat at the table as his father began to talk with Patrick about a new pair of soccer cleats that he was planning to buy him for his first year of college soccer at Stanford.

Yes, he was both smart and an athlete, the stereotype of the Stanford poster child.

During the time at the table, no one said anything to James as he ate in silence. That was another reason he connected with Caroline. She was the only person who seemed to appreciate his presence in this world. Not only did his visits with her improve her attitude, but it also improved his as well. He always felt happier after talking to her, knowing that someone out there actually saw worth in him.

After he finished eating, he went back upstairs and slammed the door to his room, questioning if his parents even noticed that he was down there eating. James sat at his desk and got onto his computer, which had Call of Duty wallpaper. After a while, he sighed and closed his laptop.

**Dream- Equestria**

_The sunlight reflected off of the clouds as Ryan flew above them. He was a Pegasus with a dark blue coat and light blue and yellow mane. He looked to his left and saw Rainbow Dash flying alongside him, giving him a little smile. _

_He returned it and flew closer to her. They both kiss and Rainbow Dash quickly grabs Ryan into a hug as they continue to fly. They are going up vertically now, looking deep into each other's eyes. _

"_I love you Ryan." She said, nuzzling her head into his chest as they go higher._

_Ryan smiled back and wrapped his hooves around her before lowering his muzzle to her head and kissing it._

"_I love you too Dashie."_

_Her red eyes looked up into his own, they were full of love, much like the love Ryan felt at that moment for her._

_The sun got brighter and brighter until it was a blinding white._

**Ryan's House- Morning**

Ryan shot awake, breathing heavily and sweating in his sleeping bag. He looked around and saw that it was about nine O'clock in the morning. He heard knocking at his door accompanied by his mother's voice.

"Ryan, sweetie, are you all right?" she asked.

Ryan got up and walked over to the door, "Yeah mom, I'm fine."

"Why is your door locked?"

"I just like some privacy is all." He said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Okay, well I'm heading off to work. There's some cereal out for you when you're ready to come downstairs."

"Okay Mom, thanks. I love you."

"Love you too sweetie."

He listened as his mother's footsteps went down the stairs and the front door shut. He sighed and pressed his head against the door of his room.

Suddenly he remembered the dream. His eyes shot open and he shook his head. He turned around to see Applejack and Rainbow Dash still asleep in his bed. Quickly, he slipped out of his bedroom and went into the hall bathroom. He washed his face and looked at himself in the mirror, his eyes no longer having the look of exhaustion; rather they showed a look of fear and confusion.

"Okay Ryan, just get a hold of yourself. It was only a dream." He muttered.

But it wasn't just a dream, and he knew it.

Ordinarily he would never tell anyone about his crush on Rainbow Dash, but he never felt the need to. After all, she was just a character of fiction only the day before. But now that she was in his house, in his life, he was freaking out.

"Just let it go, it's over. Get on with your day Ryan. Just get on with your day." He whispered before he left the bathroom, still a bit wet, and returning to his bedroom. But as he left the bathroom, he suddenly was startled by Applejack, who had snuck out of his room and was standing in the hallway with a worried expression on her face.

"Ryan, are ya okay?" she asked,

"Yeah, AJ I'm….I'm good."

"Why are ya all wet?" she asked, walking up to him.

"I just washed my face."

Applejack gave Ryan a skeptical look and shook her head, "Ya should know better than to lie to me. What's really going on? Is something bothering you?"

"I told you I'm fine AJ." Ryan said sternly before trying to get by the orange mare in front of him. She got into his way.

"Nu-uh, ya ain't going back into this room until ya tell me what's really on ya mind."

Ryan let out a sigh, trying to think of a quick, and believable, lie he could tell her.

"And don't try to lie your way out of this, because ah'll know."

"_Out of all of the characters who caught me after that bizarre dream, it had to be Applejack, the Element of Honesty. I am truly the definition of Murphy's Law."_

He sighed and decided to tell her about the dream, but as quietly as possible so they wouldn't wake up Rainbow Dash, though that was near impossible as she slept in a near-comatose state. When he finished, Applejack looked at him with confusion on her face.

"So, ya like Rainbow Dash?" Ryan nodded. Applejack then smiled. "Shucks, is that all your worried about?"

Ryan raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"Well for one thing it was a dream." She said, "And two, there nothing wrong with having a crush."

"Even when my crush is on a pony and I'm a human?" Ryan asked and Applejack nodded. Ryan sighed and rubbed his head. "Look, you can't tell her anything about this, got it?"

Applejack nods, "Ah promise you that your secret is safe with me."

Ryan nodded and sighed, "Thank you AJ."

Applejack then let Ryan by so they could wake up Rainbow Dash from her deep sleep. He got to her side of the bed and shook her.

"Ugh….ten more minutes." She groaned as she rotated so she was face-down in the pillow. Her mane was suffering from a slight case of bed-head and in Ryan's opinion, as many fan fictions have described, it was adorable.

"Come on Dash, you need to get up." Ryan said as he gently shook her shoulder. He looked up at him and chuckled.

"Sorry," she sat up in the bed and let out a small yawn, "I usually sleep in pretty late."

"I can see that." Ryan said smiling before gesturing her to follow him.

Applejack watched this from the open door and chuckled a bit to herself. Rainbow Dash got up and slowly flew out of the room.

"Are your parents home?" she asked.

"No, otherwise I wouldn't have let you out of my room."

Applejack followed her downstairs, leaving Ryan alone in his room. He sighed and walked over to his desk, where he sat and let his head fall. He groaned in stress over the situation. He did trust that AJ wouldn't say anything, but he was still concerned about why he had these feelings.

Why couldn't they just go away?

He then heard his phone buzzing. He looked at the ID and saw that it was Carl. He sighed and picked up.

"Hey Carl, what's up?"

**Carl's House- Morning**

Carl was standing in his kitchen with his cellphone, talking to Ryan. His mother had gone off to work, and his sisters were both in school, as their summer vacation didn't start for another few days.

The four ponies were sitting at the table behind him, eating some toast and dry cereal that he made for them, which they enjoyed.

"Hey I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me later, we're supposed to meet James at the mall."

"_Oh shit, you're right. Well, can we text him and tell him we can't make it? I mean, we can't leave the girls alone. Can we?"_

"True, hang on…" Carl covered the mouthpiece of the phone and turned towards the girls, who were having their own conversation at the table. "Hey Twi! Could you cast a spell that would make all six of you look human to other people?"

Twilight swallows some of the toast that is in her mouth and turns to Carl, nodding. "Oh yeah, definitely." She uses her horn to pick up a napkin and wipe some stray jam off of her face, "just let me know when you want me to do it."

Carl nodded and turned back to the phone. "Yeah it'll work."

"_Great! Listen, I'm going to make AJ and Dash some breakfast and I'll come by to pick you guys up."_

"Okay great, I'll see you then."

Ryan hung up and Carl followed suit. He turned to the table, where all four of the mares were looking at him.

"So what is the plan Carl?" Rarity asked as she delicately placed her piece of toast down onto the plate.

"We're going to the mall later to meet up with a friend of ours."

"Oh a mall! I love shopping!" Pinkie Pie shouted enthusiastically.

"Wait, you have malls in Equestria?"

They all nodded.

"Öh yes they're so wonderful." Fluttershy said.

Carl nodded, "Well, all right then, I guess it's off to the mall. Hang on I'll be right back."

Carl ran upstairs and threw on a pair of jeans and a Nike t-shirt. He grabbed his wallet and keys and ran back downstairs to see the four ponies cleaning his dishes. His mouth hung open in shock.

Fluttershy and Pinkie were bringing the plates over to the sink, while Rarity and Twilight used their magic to clean the plates off.

"_Um….okay." _he thought.

"What are you girls doing?"

"Öh, we're cleaning your dishes…I hope you don't mind." Fluttershy muttered as she put a plate down next to Twilight.

"A-are you kidding?" Carl asked with a smile, "Thank you four so much. But, why would you do that for me?"

"Well it's the least we could do to say thanks for letting us stay here for the night." Twilight said, turning and giving Carl a small smile.

"You…you really didn't have to though. I mean, you girls sleeping over was much more of a delight for me than it was for you. After all, ."

"But we wanted to!" Pinkie said, grabbing a wet scot towel with her mouth and walking over to the table to wipe it down. He put the towel onto the table and looked up at Carl. "I mean, you are our friend."

Carl smiled and let out a chuckle, "Well I really appreciate it, thank you."

After the four finished cleaning the kitchen, they talked a little more before hearing a car horn beep out in front of the house. "Well, that's Ryan." Carl muttered.

They were about to go out when Carl stopped them.

"Hang on. Twilight, what about the spell?"

Her eyes looked confused for a minute until she finally remembered, "Öh yeah! That's right!"

With that her horn glowed for a few seconds, and then stopped. Carl looked at Twilight in confusion.

"Üm Twilight, you still look like a pony." he looked around as the others, "all of you still look like ponies."

"I know," Twilight said with a smile, "I altered the spell so that only you and Ryan can still see us as we are, but everyone else will see us as humans."

Ryan chuckled, "Okay."

"Twilight can we go, I'm getting impatient." Rarity whined. No sorry, _complained_.

Carl nodded, "Äll right, let's go."

They all went out of the house and started towards Ryan's SUV. Ryan told Applejack and Rainbow Dash to stay in the car and he got out to meet Carl. He looked concerned.

"Carl, what do you think you're doing?"

Carl gave him a confused look, "What do you mean?"

"I can't fit all eight of us in my car," Ryan said, gesturing to the four ponies behind him, "it's not a Suburban. And besides, don't you think they need some sort of _disguise_?"

"They already have one." Carl said, "Twilight cast a spell so that other people will see them as human girls and we can still see them as ponies. Twilight did it last night at the party, but we saw her a a human, remember?"

"So Twilight wasn't actually a human at the party?"

Carl nodded and Ryan shrugged. "Okay, fair enough. But that still doesn't settle the issue about my car."

Carl thought for a second and looked around, his eyes settled his garage. Inside was his father's old 1994 Chevy Caprice that his mother never drove, but couldn't get rid of because it was something that reminded her of Carl's father. Carl knew there was still come gas in it and nodded.

"Twilight! Rarity! You two come with me! Everypony else get into Ryan's truck."

Carl ran back into the house to grab the keys out of his father's old desk. When he got inside, he went to his father's office, which was now the house library, and went over to the desk. He opened the door and took out the car's keys. His eyes fell onto the picture of his father and he looked at it for a few seconds. Some

He didn't hear the hoof-steps approaching.

"Carl are you okay?"

He looked up to see Twilight looking at him with concern.

"Um yeah I'm good." Carl said, wiping his tears away. "I was just remembering my father."

He held up the car keys. "The car we're taking was his. We haven't driven it since he's died."

Twilight walked over and put her hoof onto Carl's thigh. "Are you okay? I mean, we don't all have to go with you. I can watch over things here."

Carl shook his head, "No it wouldn't be fair to leave you home Twi." He looked down at the keys, "And its fine, I mean, it's been years since he's died." Carl smiled and started out. Twilight watched him go, noticing as he wiped some tears out of his eyes as he walked off.

"_I'm not letting him get off the hook that easily."_ She thought as she followed him.

She would ask about his father, but not now. For now, it was time to go meet James at the mall.

**Okay, now there probably won't be another Chapter for a while, as I haven't started the third one yet, but, like I said, when I find more time it'll get done.**

**Thank you for reading and please review if you'd like. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: A Stop at the Mall & Mr. Courtie's Magic Shop**

**Yes, I managed another chapter. I just realized that the chapters for this story will be VERY long.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. :)**

**And only the OC characters are mine, as always.**

**City Hall- Morning**

Today was much more chaotic than usual. The building was packed with reporters running from person to person, asking for short interviews and information about Jacob Hanson. Cameras flashed at every corner as local politicians were being interviewed.

With all of this going on, Brett was sitting at his desk watching the local news. A woman news reporter was discussing the tragedy previous night, _"…the explosion that killed twelve people, including Mayoral Candidate Jacob Hanson, is being blamed on a gas leak from the kitchen."_

Brett took a sip of his coffee as he continued to watch and wait, until finally Drocsid's response was shown, _"It is truly a tragedy to hear about such a loss. Jacob and I may have been on opposite sides of the political fence, but he was an upstanding citizen and a respectable man. I send out condolences to his friends and family."_

Brett smiled demonically and laughed as he watched Drocsid walk away from the podium with the flashing of cameras lightig him up as he dissappeared from the camera's view.

"_Amazing how much good press some pretty wording can get you."_ Brett let out a chuckle and leaned back against his chair and let out a sigh, _"Bringing this world into chaos will be so easy."_

**Wilmont Mall- Late Morning**

Carl and Ryan pulled into the mall parking lot. The mall was pretty packed since teenagers that had just been let out of school flooded it to hang out or go on massive shopping sprees that they had saved up for throughout the year. Even though it was packed, there was ample parking due to the sheer size of the lot. So both Ryan and Carl were able to find two spots right next to each other, even though they were a decent distance from the entrance. But that wasn't too much of a problem, after all some walking was healthy.

In Carl's car, Rarity and Twilight both pressed against the windows of the car to see the mall, eyes wide in excitement. The mall was very large, with grand, glass entrance that led directly to the food-court, where fast food joints lined the walls. There was a large carousel that was clearly visible through the glass entrance. It went around and around, little kids screaming in joy as the ride continued on, and on, and on in the same direction.

"Oh is this the mall?" Twilight asked excitedly.

"Yep." Carl replied as he turned the engine off.

"It looks simply splendid Carl." Rarity said as she pressed her face completely into the glass.

"You haven't seen anything yet, it's even better inside," Carl said as he opened the door, "let's just hope your spell worked out well Twilight. I'd hate to see people's faces if they saw you girls as ponies."

Twilight nodded, "I understand, and it will work. Trust me."

Carl got out of the car and Twilight followed behind him, as she was in the passenger seat. Carl then opened the back and let Rarity out.

Ryan was already out of his car, the four ponies that he took were standing around him, stretching a bit after sitting still in the car for so long. Ryan gestured for Carl to follow him so that they were a few feet away from the girls, as Ryan needed to talk to him. When Carl went over, Ryan leaned towards him and whispered. "Hey, do you think we should have all six of them come in with us? I mean, if we do that we might draw attention having a girl to guy ratio of 6:2."

Carl raised an eyebrow. "And that's a problem?"

Ryan put his hand to his head, "Look, it isn't a secret that we aren't exactly "ladies' men", and if we go into the mall with all of these girls. One of three possibilities will happen. One, someone working for Discord might recognize their traits. Two, it'll make us out to be pimps, which isn't bad at all, but the third possibility is more likely in that people would think that we're…." Ryan made a gesture as if to say Carl should be able to guess what the third thing was.

Carl raised an eyebrow, "That we're what?"

Ryan rolled his eyes and did a quick girly motion with his hand. Carl got the idea and his eyes widened.

"Oh fuck."

"Yeah," Ryan said.

"Shit, so what do we do?"

"I don't know."

"_Ahem_." They both turned around to see Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy looking up at them. Apparently, they felt like privacy wasn't a right anymore for these two boys and went over to eavesdrop on them. Actually, it was more of Rainbow Dash going over there and brining Fluttershy with her.

"We don't mind staying back." Rainbow Dash said.

"Are you sure?" Carl asked.

"Only if you don't mind, after all I'm not too comfortable being in such a big place with so many people." Fluttershy said.

"And I can't being around so many clothing stores," Rainbow Dash said, "it's just too girly for me."

Ryan looked at Carl. "I'll stay back with them." Ryan said, "You can bring James outside if you want, just tell him I can't go in because "Tara's" friend felt sick from walking around so much."

"Okay, fine." Carl said, "I just hope he doesn't know that we're bullshitting him."

Ryan shrugged and walked back to his car, "Come on you two. Let me introduce you to some of our music."

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy followed him. Carl sighed and looked at the four girls.

"_Well great, now I'm stuck alone in a situation where I'm surrounded by girls."_ Carl groaned, realizing his and Ryan's plan didn't do anything but minimize the number of ponies who were walking into the mall. It was still a 4:1 ratio of girls to guys. Normally being surrounded by this many girls would make Carl ecstatic, but thinking in the terms that Ryan talked about earlier made him re-think his attitude towards it. After all, it was true that a guy not really known for being a "playa" would get the reputation of being gay if he was the only guy in a group of girls. But Carl didn't feel like thinking about what to do anymore, so he accepted it and decided to go with his motto of _"fuck what society thinks"_ that he usually tried to follow.

"Hey Carl are you ready? I want to check out this mall!" Pinkie Pie said jumping up and down excitedly.

Carl nodded and let out a deep sigh and thought _"Twilight your spell better have worked, otherwise we're screwed."_

**Food Court**

James rested his head on the table of the table at the mall food-court as he tried to recover from the last bit of his hangover that he had. He was still seething at all of the praise his brother got over him, stirring the straw in his drink for no reason other than to relieve some of his stress. But it wasn't the hangover that made him stressed out. It was his brother and parents that were driving him up a wall.

"_Oh Patrick is so smart, Patrick is so special, Patrick is Jesus Christ himself! What a crock of shit."_

He listed his head and took a sip of the soda that he got from one of the fast food places that lined both sides of the food court. James looked at his phone and began to surf the web when he felt somebody tap him on the shoulder. He turned around to see Alex Franco standing behind him. Alex had short, curly blonde hair that was hidden under a white Dallas Cowboys hat that was on backwards. He had green eyes and a smiling face. He was generally an optimistic kid even though his life was far from perfect.

"Hey man, what are you doing here?" Alex asked, sitting in a chair next to James.

"Not much," James yawned as he was still tired from the night before, "Just waiting on Ryan and Carl to talk to them for a few minutes before I have to go to my cousin's house."

"Yeah?" Alex asked and James nodded. Alex adjusted the hat on his head so the Cowboy's logo and brim was facing forward, "Cool, so how was the party?"

"Fantastic." James took a sip of his soda.

"So you got drunk?"

"That would be the understatement of the millennium."

Alex laughed a bit, "Were you doing that thing you always do when you're drunk? You know, singing Kiss songs?"

"I'm not really sure," James said, thinking back to the night before, "but either way it was pretty awesome."

"Ah, but how can you be sure if you don't remember?"

"To steal a quote from the "Hangover", if you don't remember, it was most likely because you had a fucking great time." James said before taking another sip of his soda. He chuckled a bit to hide his stress from Alex, who was usually good at knowing when someone wasn't being open about their emotions. Fortunately, he didn't seem to notice.

"I hear ya man, I hear ya."

Just then Carl, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie all went over to James and Alex. Of course, they only saw Carl and four human girls walking up to him, all with traits that matched their personalities. For instance, Applejack looked like the typical blonde southern girl with a cowboy hat and a brown, leather jacket. Rarity appeared to wear a very nice t-shirt with sparkles on it, and her hair was so nice that it seemed like she just got back from a hair stylist. Pinkie Pie had really huge, pink hair and an all-pink outfit. Now, this was what everyone saw except for Carl, who was hoping that the spell was working well.

Alex looked up at them and smiled, noticing the four girls with Carl.

"Oh shit, it looks like we've got a playa here." Alex walked over and shook Carl's hand. "What's up my man?"

"'Sup Alex. Not much, just showing my friends here around the mall."

"I can see that."

Twilight looked over at James and pointed her hoof at him, though to everyone else she was pointing a finger. "Hey, aren't you that boy that I met at the party last night?"

James began to think then nodded, "Yeah I….oh wait you're that girl that came up to us, what was your name again?"

"Tara."

"Yeah guys this is Tara, and these are her friends…" Carl was about to say their real names when he stopped himself. He gulped as he knew that he had to improvise some names off of the top of his head. The issue was that he was never the most creative person when it came to that so he just gave them girl names that started with the same letter as their actual names. "…this is Anna, Penelope, and….Raquel."

"Raquel, that's an interesting name." James said, looking at Rarity. Rarity gave him angry look.

"What wrong with my name?"

"Nothing, I just wouldn't have thought of you as a Raquel. You look more like a Bella or Alexandra or something that would come out of Victorian literature."

"Victorian Literature, what's that?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"A genre of books that's used predominantly to make High School students' lives hell and make college students feel enlightened." James said with a snarky smirk.

"So you're James, huh?" Applejack asked James, her southern drawl grabbed Alex's attention.

"Yeah, that's me. It's nice to meet you all. Oh and this, here, is Alex Franco. He's a friend of mine."

Alex gave a nod to them all "Nice to meet y'all." He said. Even though he's lived in New york since he was seven, he would occasionally fall into his southern way of speaking, especially after hearing someone with a southern accent speak, which, in this case, was Applejack. Alex then turned to Applejack herself and pointed at her.

"You're, Anna, right?" Alex asked, and Applejack nodded, "where are you from?"

"Pony…." She managed to get out before Carl stepped in quickly.

"Tennessee! She's from Tennessee."

"Oh cool," Alex said with a smile, "I'm actually from Texas." He pointed to his Cowboys hat to show her, which she looked at confused.

"Are you a Titans fan?" Alex asked.

"A _what_-tans fan?"

"Okay, I think that's enough time for introductions. James, do you want to head out to see Ryan."

James nodded. "Sure; hey Alex do you want to come out too?"

Alex shook his head. "Nah man I need to pick up my mom's dry-cleaning and get home." Alex stood up and adjusted the hat on his head so it was facing backwards again, "I'll talk to you guys later, and it was nice meeting you four girls."

He turned and smiled at Applejack, "Especially you."

Applejack blushed a bit and returned the smile. "And it was a pleasure to meet ya."

Carl bit his lip anxiously, as Alex walked away, all smiles.

"What the hell took you so long to get here?" James hissed at Carl.

"Sorry, I got side-tracked."

"And where the hell is Ryan again?"

"Back at the car," Carl said, "He's with two of Tara's friends that felt sick."

James looked at Carl in shock, "There are two more?"

Carl nodded and James just chuckled, "All right, I'm confused, but I'll go along with this."

Just like that, all six began to leave the food court.

Back in his car, Ryan was with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash listening to some of the music.

"Oh what's this music? It's so pretty." Fluttershy asked, resting her head against the back of her seat.

"It's just a song on my playlist."

"What's it called?"

"Um, it's "Forever Young" by Alphaville." Ryan said with a sigh, letting the music enter one ear and exit the other, leaving him with a feeling of bliss. He loved the way this song brought him to a place of peace and tranquility that most songs couldn't.

"Eh, it's all right, but do you have anything _cooler_?" Rainbow Dash asked. Ryan chuckled, thinking of how typical it was of her to act like that, which was why she won him over so much.

"Yeah hang on." He flipped through his playlist to find a song that he thought Rainbow Dash would like, and hoping that it wouldn't be too hardcore for Fluttershy.

Outside, Carl and James were heading over to Ryan and Carl's cars when they accidentally bumped into someone, knocking them over.

"Oh no, man I'm sorry." Carl reached down to help up the boy.

He looked like he was two to three years younger than Carl, James or Ryan. In reality, though, he was the same age. He had messy brown hair and sad-looking blue eyes. As Carl helped him up, the boy didn't even utter "oomph" when he got to his feet, he was that quiet.

"Kid you okay?" Carl asked. The boy didn't say anything. It was then that he knew who the quiet boy was. "Wait, aren't you Pete Reynolds, aren't you?"

The boy didn't answer; he just looked down at his feet and gave a small nod. It was well known that Pete Reynolds was the number one target for bullying, even more so than Ryan. People also spread rumors about him like crazy. You see, he used to be one of the most talkative and outgoing kids in school, but one day he just stopped and became quiet.

No one really knows why, so naturally ideas spread from student to student about possible reasons.

"Pete, are you okay?"

Pete nodded again and slowly started to walk by the group when Pinkie Pie stepped into his path with a big smile on her face.

"_Oh dear God no."_ Carl said, "Pink….er I mean _Penelope_ what are you doing?"

Pinkie didn't even seem to notice Carl's question as she was too determined to introduce herself to Pete. "Hi what's your name?"

Pete stopped and looked up at the mare, but what he saw was a girl with really big, pink hair and large, expressive blue eyes. As his eye caught Pinkie's, his expression seemed to relax and he seemed to perk up a bit.

"I'm…I'm Pete." He said with a shy smile, his eyes averted soon as he said it.

"Nice to meet you I'm Penelope!" she said. Carl mentally had a "success kid" moment at the fact that she remembered her assigned name, as he felt that if anyone forgot to use their fake name, it would be her. What he didn't see was Pete suddenly smiling more than he had in a long time. It still wasn't a lot, but it was a significant improvement.

"Hi," he said quietly before biting his lip anxiously at the fact that he was having a conversation with someone, "listen I need to go now, but I'd like to talk to you sometime."

With that, he walked away. "Okie dokey, see you later Petey-weety!" Pinkie said happily in her usual peppy voice. Pete just gave her a quick smile before heading off in a somewhat happier mood than he was earlier.

James' mouth hung open, "How did she do that? No one can get that kid to talk or smile."

Carl shrugged, "She just knows how to connect with people." James nodded, accepting the explanation.

Twilight walked over to Carl and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to see her.

"Carl, can we get back to Ryan and the others?" she asked, "I need to check James for something."

"For what?"

"I'll show you soon, but can we please go back to your house so we don't have to worry about people hearing us?" she asked. Carl nodded, though he was still confused. With that, the group continued on its trek back to Ryan's car. They didn't notice as, behind them, Lawrence and two of his cronies, Sean and Lance, began to surround Pete.

Meanwhile, in Ryan's truck, some of the most badass lyrics were being blared:

"_A-ah-ahh-ah, ah-ah-ahh-ah_

_We come from the land of the ice and snow_

_from the midnight sun where the hot springs blow_

_The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands_

_To fight the horde and sing and cry, Valhalla, I am coming_

_On we sweep with, with threshing oar_

_Our only goal will be the western shore!"_

Yes, they were listening to the 2011 cover of "Immigrant Song" by Karen O., Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross from "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" (Reznor and Ross didn't deserve their Oscar in 2011 but I love their version of this song, and it helped give me motivation to make this story. I just love music mixed with film.).

Ryan and Rainbow Dash were both wearing pairs of sunglasses and singing along with the song. Even Fluttershy was enjoying the music, which was surprising as Ryan didn't see her as someone who'd like heavy metal.

Either way, Ryan found himself having the time of his life with the cyan mare that he secretly was in love with. She was completely owning this song and looked like a complete badass in her sunglasses, Ryan kept imagining the words "deal with it" appearing under her face like the meme that he had seen so often.

"This song is AWESOME! Ryan you've got to let me take this back to Equestria so I can do my flying routines to it!" she said, lowering her glasses slightly so her red eyes looked into Ryan's frames.

"Hey! Not only do I _want_ you to use this song when you fly, I want to see you do a sonic rainboom to it!"

"I will!" she shouted happily over the blaring music just before she began to do an air-guitar type movement.

"I actually like this song a lot, even if it is a wee bit loud." Fluttershy said before her eyes opening, "Oh I hope I didn't insult your taste in music Ryan."

"Not at all Fluttershy!" Ryan said. They kept singing as they heard a knock at the window. Ryan turned to see Carl, James and the four girls. Carl had an expression that screamed _"are you kidding me?"_

Ryan turned the music down and lowered the window, "Sorry man, couldn't resist. I just had to break out this masterpiece, even if it is a cover."

Carl rolled his eyes as James looked into the car at the two girls.

"Hey, I'm James, what are your names?" James asked. Before Carl could answer, Rainbow Dash spoke up with a big smile on her face,

"Oh, I'm Louise and this is Thelma. It's very nice to meet you James."

James began to chuckle and Carl looked at Ryan, who just smiled at him and whispered. "Sorry man, I couldn't help it, you know I'm a movie freak."

"Oh really? I would have never guessed you were a movie freak by the fact that you're playing a cover song from a David Fincher film and gave two mares the names Thelma and Louise." Carl quietly hissed.

Just then, Carl heard a noise behind him. He turned to see Lawrence shove Pete to the ground as Lance and Sean laughed like a couple of hyenas.

"Oh shit." He said, watching as Pete was laying on his back. As the poor boy tried to get back up, Lawrence raised his foot, and brought it down onto his back, laying him out on the pavement. Pete was even quiet when he was getting beat up. He didn't utter a scream, he just cried silently.

Everyone was frozen; they didn't know what to do. Finally Ryan, being the loyal person that he was, jumped out of his truck and ran over to the scene.

"Hey! Lawrence! You piece of shit!"

Lawrence turned away from the smaller, helpless boy and to Ryan. He had an evil smile.

"You stay out of this Ryan; you aren't scheduled for another beating until Tuesday." Lawrence sneered.

"I'd say that you should pick on someone your own size, but that would require finding a fucking sumo wrestler." Ryan hissed, "Leave Pete alone."

"And why should I?" he asked as he took a step towards Ryan, who started to look nervous, "Are _you_ going to stop me? Please, when we saw each other at the party yesterday it didn't end so well or you did it? How is your eye by the way?""

Ryan put his hand up to his more recently bruised eye and rubbed it, "Never better. You'd be surprised how much of a chick magnet a black eye is."

"Oh is that why all of those girls are over there with you?" Lawrence asked and Ryan nodded.

Lawrence let out a laugh, "Man, I thought it was because you were a faggot."

Ryan bit his lip angrily and Lawrence gave his own, sadistic smile.

"Okay then; here's your chance to impress them, hit me and save the poor defenseless Pete from my wrath. Come on; do it." He said, leaning towards Ryan with a smug smile. Ryan didn't move, too afraid of the consequences of a fight. He was in no way a pacifist, but he never could bring himself to try to physically hurt someone. He would if Pete was being beaten at the moment, but right now it was just him and he'd only physically hurt someone else if they were going after someone else in that moment.

A few seconds later Sean laughed, "Yo man he's too much of a pussy!"

Lawrence smiled, looking over as Carl and the other started over to them. "Well if you won't fight me, I hope you don't mind if I take the reins on this."

Lawrence grabbed Ryan by the collar, reared his right hand back and punched Ryan in the nose, causing him to fall to the pavement.

"Ryan!" he heard a familiar, raspy female voice shout out. Ryan felt Lawrence kick him in the side, right where his ribs were. Ryan rolled over onto his other side, clutching his hurt rib-cage. Lawrence brought his fist into his stomach, causing him to lurch in pain. Everyone's attention was on the fight, that they didn't notice a cyan mare climb out of the car through the open widow.

"Get up!" Lawrence demanded, "Get up you pussy!"

"Hey you leave him alone!"

All of a sudden, Ryan saw a flash of blue with rainbow streaks smash into Lawrence at near supersonic speed, sending him flying about fifteen feet into the side of a pick-up truck. The glass in the side door shattered and fell around Lawrence. Luckily the car alarm on the truck didn't go off. Regardless, Sean and Lance looked at Rainbow Dash in astonishment.

Now to Carl and Ryan, it didn't look un-natural to see Rainbow Dash fly at such a speed, but to James and the others, it looked like a teenage girl sprinted at an impossible quickness and sucker punching Lawrence so hard that he flew into the truck.

Sean and Lance turned and ran off in the other direction, towards Lawrence's car to head off.

"Yeah you'd better run!" Rainbow Dash spat before turning her attention to the bleeding Ryan. Ryan looked up at the mare, whose face showed great concern for his well-being. "Ryan are you okay?"

Without hesitation, Ryan hugged Rainbow Dash and kissed her on the top of her head, "Thank you Dashie! Thank you!" He didn't realize how intimate the situation got until he already did it, but he was so happy that someone, or in this case some_pony_, stood up for him that he didn't care. He was usually sable to handle himself and stay stoic when being beaten up, but he was so emotionally touched by what she did for him, her _loyalty_, that he couldn't hold back.

Rainbow Dash was stunned to say the least, and her blushing face attested to that. But she pretended to brush it off as just his reaction to being helped so she just chuckled. "He-he, no problem Ryan. But you don't have to be _so_ affectionate."

"I'm just happy someone finally stood up for me." He whispered to her so no one else heard it. After all, he really didn't want James or Carl to be insulted even though Ryan did feel that they played the bystander too much when he got the shit kicked out of him.

"Why did you call her Dashie?" James asked, "I thought her name was Louise."

"It is," Ryan said as he broke the hug and wiped from blood off of his nose, "Dashie is her nickname. After all, you saw how fast she was." Ryan said before winking at Rainbow Dash, who blushed at the compliment.

James nodded, accepting the reason, but in his mind he was still confused over Ryan's reaction. And he wasn't the only one. Carl was shocked, not only at how far Rainbow Dash managed to smash Lawrence, but how Ryan reacted to it. Was he that thankful for her loyalty, or was it something more? It certainly got him thinking, even if for only a few seconds.

In fact, only one who wasn't taken aback by Ryan's reaction was Applejack, and that was because of what Ryan told her the night before. So she decided to change the topic to Pete, who was now lying on the ground with a bloody nose of his own.

"Uh Pinkie," she said lowly so that no one could hear her real name, "why don't ya go see if that kid is okay." Applejack said, pointing to Pete.

"Oh! Okay!" she said happily before bouncing over to Pete.

Yes, she bounced, and James was now even more confused. _"What drugs is that girl on….and where can I get some?"_

Carl tapped James on the shoulder and motioned for him to go over to Ryan. Both boys did so and helped their friend up. Meanwhile, Pinkie was standing by a frightened looking Pete.

"Hey there, are you okay? It wasn't nice what those meany-weenies did to you. Do you need a hand?"

Pete was frozen for a second before some tears began to flow down his cheeks. He stood up and bolted off, leaving a very confused Pinkie.

"Hey wait!" she shouted, but Pete kept running.

"What was that all about?" Rarity asked, walking over to Pinkie.

Pinkie shrugged, "I guess he was late for something."

While all of this was happening, Twilight and Applejack were staring at the three boys, Twilight rubbed her chin with her hoof as she pondered.

"Um Twilight, what are ya thinking about?" Applejack asked, realizing that Twilight had her violet eyes on James.

"Just a hunch, like I did with Ryan." She walked over to James and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Huh?" James asked, turning around to see Twilight, or Tara as he thought.

"Hey Tara, what's up?"

"James, can you hold still for a moment?"

James nodded and Twilight leaned her head into James' heart, making him jump back. Twilight looked up at him with an annoyed expression.

"Wh-what are you doing?" James stammered.

"Stay still I need to see something."

"What can you see by pressing your head into my chest?" James asked in a freaked out tone.

"More than you think, now if I may." She leaned forward again and did the same thing she did with Ryan the night before. After a few seconds of James looking down at Twilight in confusion, she stepped back, smiled at him, and walked over to Carl. She tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around to see her.

"Twi….er I mean Tara, what's up?" Twilight motioned for Carl to bend down to her level .He did. And what James saw was both of them kneeling, just in case there was any more confusion on how the spell works).

"What is it?" Carl asked.

Twilight smiled and whispered into Carl's ear. "Your friend James is the Element of Kindness."

Carl was in shock as the words left Twilight's mouth. He turned to see James talking with Ryan and Rainbow Dash.

"Should we tell him now?"

Twilight shook her head, "We should probably show him what we really look like first so he doesn't think that we're crazy. Let's take him back to your house."

Carl nodded when Fluttershy spoke up, "If you…um…don't mind me asking. If your friend a "brony" too?"

Carl shook his head, "I seriously doubt it. If he is, he never told us. But I guess he'll learn to be one, especially with you as his partner Fluttershy."

Fluttershy backed up a bit shyly when Carl looked at her, "Do you want to talk to him now?"

She shook her head and Carl nodded. He then let out a sigh and walked over to James. "James, listen can you come over to my house now?"

James looked at Carl and shook his head, "Na man I can't. I only thought this whole mall thing would be a quick catch-up. I have to go see Caroline and then go to work."

"Oh that's right, with Mr. Courtie right?" Carl asked. James nodded. "I still can't believe that out of all of us, you're the one to work in a magic shop. I mean, you don't even believe in God."

"I'm an agnostic Carl, not an atheist. I don't say if there is or isn't a God because no one knows. And I know magic doesn't exist either, it's just a good part-time job to have. Besides, it reminds me of a simpler time in my life."

"Well, can we stop by tonight and bring you back to my house, it's important."

James nodded; knowing that every moment spent away from his patronizing parents and "goody-goody" brother was the next best moment in his life.

**City Hall- Later**

The entire building was still in shock about Jacob Hanson's death. But now that his bullshit condolences speech was given, Mayor Drocsid was all smiles. He now had one of his own running against him so that he would intentionally fail and Drocsid would be elected for another two years.

"_Let's see, I have complete control over the city government, police force, anarchist gangs, I am all set."_

He sat back against his chair when the door to his room burst open and Brett came in, dragging Lawrence behind him. Also there was Sean and Lance, both of whom had worried expressions on their faces. Mayor Drocsid looked up at Brett.

"What happened here?"

"Lawrence here was attacked by a girl." Brett hissed.

"In my defense, she was fast as fuck." Lawrence complained.

"Shut up." Brett growled before he looked back up at the Mayor. "Sir I think they're here."

Drocsid raised an eyebrow, "Who?"

"The Elements." He said. "Lawrence told me that the girl that attacked him had rainbow colored hair."

"And a blue t-shirt!" Sean said. Brett shot Sean an angry look and Sean quickly shut his mouth. Brett turned back to Drocsid.

"Sir, we need to find out where they are."

Drocsid nodded and Lawrence began to laugh. Brett threw Lawrence against the wall, causing him to stop his fit of giggles.

"Boy, you'd better have a good reason for laughing."

"I don't know where that girl was from, but she saved a little pussy that I pick on all of the time."

"And who would that be?" Drocsid asked as he slowly walked over to Lawrence.

Lawrence gave him a sly smirk.

**Caroline's House- Later**

When James finally got to Caroline's house, he noticed that there was a strange black BMW in the driveway. He's been going to her house long enough to know that it was the doctor's went up to the door and knocked. Caroline's mother answered and smiled.

"Hi James."

"Hello Aunt Christie. Can I come in?"

"Sure, but Caroline is with the doctor now, so you'll have to wait a few minutes, if that's all right with you."

James nodded as he walked into the house and sat at the small table in the kitchen, waiting for the doctor to be done with Caroline. After about twenty minutes, the doctor same out with his supplies, he was a middle-aged man glasses and a grey beard. He looked over at James, who had gotten up to greet him.

"Hello Doctor Bernstein, how is she doing?"

Dr. Bernstein didn't answer immediately, he just sighed. James took a step closer with a desperate look in his eye, "How is she?"

"I'm sorry, I can only talk to her parents." He said before walking over to Aunt Christie. James sighed and walked into Caroline's room to see his cousin leaning over the side of the bed making gagging noises.

"Caroline?" James asked. Caroline looked up at him. Her eyes were red and a little bit cloudy with tears. Her face was pale and she was covered in sweat. She was also wearing her Fluttershy t-shirt.

"James, oh no I'm sorry I forgot to take this shirt off before my chemo. Now there's all vomit over it."

"Don't worry about it; you can't help it. Besides, it's just a t-shirt. I care more about the sweet girl who's wearing the shirt."

Caroline smiled and James walked over to her side of the bed and sat down next to her, placing his hand onto her shoulder.

"I just feel bad that I'm doing this to poor Fluttershy." She said with a small chuckle, looking down at her shirt.

"It's okay, I'm sure she'll forgive you." James said with a small chuckle of his own as he looked down into his cousin's sad eyes.

"James, I have a question."

"What's that?"

"What happens when you die?"

James was floored by this, and his face showed it. Caroline took note of James' silence and sighed, "I'm not in denial about my cancer; I know I could die and I've accepted that as much as I could."

"Don't talk like that Caroline." James said while trying to hold his tears back. Caroline looked up at him, her own tears rolling down her cheeks, before she looked away towards the opposite wall of the room.

"I think that when you die, you get to go to the one place that makes you the happiest."

"Like heaven?"

"Not exactly," she said, "Well, I mean, yes heaven but also you'd have your own personal heaven. A place where all of the people and things you love will be, whether they ever existed on Earth or not."

"So what did you have in mind?" James said, still not really enjoying this conversation about death that he was having with his cancer-ridden cousin, but happy that he could comfort her in some way.

"When I die, I want to go to Equestria and live out my afterlife there."

James gave a small chuckle, "That's an interesting wish. But why Equestria?"

"I have a lot of free time to read fan-fictions online. There is no genre I like better than the human in Equestria story because they give me the chance to imagine what it would be like to meet characters that I never could in real life, but that I've always wished to. That I could only possibly meet in death, after God judged me."

"So your own personal heaven is Equestria?"

"Yes." She said with a small smile as he began to imagine it, "I mean, there's no suffering, no corruption, and everypony is so innocent and kind to one another. Why do you think I watch the show so much?" She said with a small sniffle. "I watch it to forget my suffering for a short time and imagine myself in that land of peace, happiness, and innocence that this world will never have. Besides you and my parents, watching the show is the only thing that keeps me sane."

James didn't say anything else as he mulled over the extremely deep statement that Caroline just made. He wanted to cry himself, but when he heard her vomiting again into the trashcan, he realized that he had to be the strong one. He helped her to her bathroom and held her head over the toilet as the chemo "healed" her.

Eventually, she stopped and James helped her back to bed. He talked with her for a little bit longer before he said good-bye and started out to wait for his aunt to give him a lift to work.

As he exited the bedroom, he saw Dr. Bernstein and Aunt Christie sitting next to each other at the kitchen table. The Doctor was whispering to her about something that James couldn't make out. But he knew that it couldn't be good, because Aunt Christie was sobbing uncontrollably.

He didn't listen; rather he just waited for the two to stop talking. He didn't want to hear the bad news and decided that sometimes denial was the best way to feel optimistic in this fucked up world.

He began to think about what Caroline said earlier and let out a huge sigh just before tears fell from his eyes, now being able to somewhat let his guard down. But he still didn't sob, he was stronger than that.

Why is it that the kindest of humanity suffer the most? They always lose and the dirt bags always win. All he could do was pray to God, if there was a God, that if Caroline passed away, she would find peace in her own personal paradise.

He prayed that she would find Equestria, a land that James also wished he could be in.

A place that he felt was unnattainable to both him and Caroline, in both life and death.

And that's when he sobbed.

**Carl's House- Night**

Ryan and Carl were about to leave for Mr. Courtie's magic shop as it was quite late. Lauren was cleaning the kitchen as Anna and Lisa were asleep in their beds. Carl and Ryan were in Carl's room with the girls, who were extra quiet now since Lauren was still awake downstairs.

Since the mall the seven of them had just hung out and talked about what was going to happen. All that the girls knew was that Discord was planning to get stronger and overtake Earth and Equestria, and that there were six elements, three of which were obviously Carl, Ryan and James. After that, they just talked a bit.

But Carl noticed something else. Ryan and Rainbow Dash were not with the rest of them. Instead, they sat on Carl's bed and talked. He still was confused about Ryan's behavior earlier, and their current behavior was not helping his confusion.

Applejack was the only one who knew how Ryan felt, and she was nervous for him. She knew he didn't want anyone to know about his feelings, especially Rainbow Dash, but at the same time it seemed like he couldn't help but be near her every chance he got.

Carl also noticed that Ryan's personality seemed different. Ever since Rainbow Dash helped him with Lawrence earlier that day, Ryan seemed to be in a great mood.

"You acted so surprised when I did that," Rainbow Dash chuckled, "you should know that I don't let anypony mess with my friends."

"I knew that," Ryan said with a smile, "I just really appreciate it."

Rainbow Dash gave him a small smile back.

Carl sighed and turned his attention back to the girls.

"So what's the plan then?" Twilight asked.

"We're going to pick James up from work and bring him back here." Carl said.

"Oh where does he work?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"He works at Mr. Courtie's Magic Shop in the village." Carl said, "Actually, a fun fact is that I used to work there."

"But I thought you said magic didn't exist here." Fluttershy said quietly.

"It doesn't, we have faux magic that's used to entertain people."

"What do you mean? Do other people know that it isn't real?" Twilight asked and Carl nodded.

"Except for really young kids, yes they do. Trust me, I know." Carl said with a sigh that seemed to show how he was remembering something dark from his past. Carl didn't think any of the girls noticed but Twilight too note and remembered his reaction, as she would ask him about it later when they would talk about his father.

Carl looked at his watch, "Oh crap, Ryan we have to get going!"

Ryan looked over at Carl and gave his friend a small nod before he stood up.

"Okay, girls listen to me I'm going to go get my youngest sister to watch you."

"What? Don't that go against the idea of being "incognito"?" Applejack asked with concern.

"Trust me she won't tell a soul, especially if you tell her not to talk. She practically worships you six as much as me and Ryan do."

They nodded and Carl left the room. He tip-toed down the hall to Anna's room and opened the door. Just as quietly, he went over to the side of her bed and tapped her on the shoulder. She opened her eye and looked at Carl,

"Carl? What do you want?"

"I need you to come with me.""

Anna sighed, "Ugh, what for?"

"I'll show you, come on lazy bones, get up."

Anna buried her face into her pillow and groaned, "Fine."

She sat up and both her and David left her room and went over to his own. Just before they got there, Carl leaned towards Anna and whispered, "Listen, you don't freak you at what you see and don't tell anyone else about it? Understand?"

Anna rolled her eyes, "Yeah, of course."

Carl nodded and opened the door to his room. When she saw the mane six, she didn't scream, she didn't shout, she just smiled.

"Cool the mane six are here!" she said excitedly.

Carl was flabbergasted; he didn't know how she could be so calm about seeing six cartoon ponies standing in front of her. She did show excitement in her voice, but she didn't show any expression of shock or complete amazement. Carl didn't get this until he remembered that she was young and still probably thought stuff like this was possible.

Hell, she probably thought all cartoon characters existed and we were following them around during their adventures, like spies. Ah we were all at that age, weren't we?

She walked over to the six ponies with a smile. She introduced herself to them and they did the same to her. Carl looked to Ryan.

"You ready?"

"Yeah let's…" Ryan started when they heard the "_ehem_" of someone clearing their throat come from behind them. They turned to see Lisa looking at them, arms crossed and eyes angry.

"What's going on in here Carl?" she asked before looking at the ponies, who were now looking back at her, "I see you've summoned the mane six and didn't tell me. I don't appreciate that."

Carl was about to protest but then he thought of something sadistic.

"Well this worked out perfectly." Carl said with a smile, "You want to spend time with them, right?"

She rolled her eyes and nodded in a matter-of-fact way. Carl gave her an evil smile, "Well then, I want you to watch them with Anna until we get back home.""

"What? How long will that be?"

"Long." Carl said with a grin before walking away with Ryan, "and if I find out that you went to bed while you were supposed to be watching them, or if you tell anyone about them being here, including Mom, I'll tell mom who broke the computer last month."

Lisa clenched her teeth in frustration before storming into her brother's room.

Rainbow Dash watched as Ryan go with a smile before turning around to see Applejack giving her a look.

"What?" she asked.

"Why are ya and Ryan acting so chummy?" she asked.

"Um, maybe because we're friends and have the same element?"

"Are ya sure that's it?"

Rainbow Dash nodded and Applejack sighed and gave a small shrug, "Whatever ya say."

As she walked off to join the others, Rainbow Dash looked down and shook her head, _"Why do I feel the need to be close to Ryan?"_

She didn't understand it much and decided to think about it later.

Meanwhile, with Lisa and Anna, all of the other ponies were talking to them about girly stuff that they couldn't with Ryan or Carl, such as clothes.

This interested most of them, except for Rainbow Dash, who hated talking about clothes. Besides, no matter how hard she tried and told herself that she'd stop thinking about Ryan, she couldn't. How kind he was to her, how much he seemed to care about her, how much he seemed to worship her. No guy ever treated her with such respect unless they were little colts who thought she was awesome because of her sonic rainboom and fastest flyer in Equestria title.

Nopony guy ever given her these feelings of being appreciated.

She didn't know that a few miles away, Ryan was thinking about her in the same way.

**Ryan's Car**

"So can you please tell me why you're so attached to Rainbow Dash?" Carl asked as Ryan drove down the road. Carl was never the most diligent person, especially with school work, but he was keen on finding and answer to this question.

"What are you talking about she's the same element as me," Ryan said, "besides, she's my favorite out of the mane six. You've known that for months."

Carl rolled his eyes and leaned forward to look at Ryan's face from a closer distance. It was clear that he was blushing like crazy. Two and two came togther in Carl's mind and his jaw dropped.

"Oh my God you love her."

"No…shu….shut up." Ryan stuttered nervously, like a kid who had just been caught being aroused during class.

"Dude, she's a cartoon pony, you can't be in love with her, it's un-natural." Carl said, conveneintly forgetting the similar feelings that he had for Twilight the night before.

"You think I don't know that? Why do you think it's so hard for me to admit that I love her. I don't know why but I do. When I look into her eyes, I just…." Ryan sighed before continuing, "When I watched the show, I'd become depressed because when it ended I was reminded that she was just fiction. And now that she's here, living and breathing, with those beautiful eyes…I can't help but feel...love for her."

Carl shook his head in an unapproving way.

"Dude, seek help." Carl said flatly as Ryan just brushed him off. Carl then sighed, "Look, I have a suggestion. Write a poem about her and see if that'll make you feel better. I mean, if you can't be with her…"

Ryan took his eyes off of the road and looked at Carl with a hopeful expression, but Carl didn't sugar coat what he was saying, "…and you can't." Ryan's face fell back to its serious state as Carl continued, "You at least will have a way to vent your feelings."

Ryan sighed, "Fine."

"There you go, and besides, you've got to understand the chance that she has the same feelings for you is like a million to one." Carl turned his attention back to outside, watching as they went past the local park, now pitch-black with the exception of the soccer field, which has a game going on and the huge, towering lights overhead to illuminate the field.

He was so transfixed that he didn't hear Ryan say, "Then there's still a chance."

**Carl's Room**

"So you're saying that my brother is the Element of Magic?" Lisa asked in shock as she talked with Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were sitting next to Anna and talking to her about animals, parties and clothes. Actually, scratch that, Pinkie Pie was talking while Fluttershy mostly _listened._

Lisa laughed, "I think you've got him confused with someone else."

"No, he's the one, trust me." Twilight said.

"But, he's so incompetent and, well, _ordinary_."

Twilight chuckled at Lisa's obvious attempts to put down her brother. "Well, sometimes the more ordinary people seem, the greater destiny they have."

Lisa nodded before she turned to Rainbow Dash and pointed, "And you, is it true?"

Rainbow Dash looked at Lisa with confusion, "Is what true?"

"That you like…_mares_."

"Well of course I like mares, I'm friends with a bunch of them." Rainbow Dash scoffed but Lisa chuckled.

"No I don't mean like friends I mean are you….attracted to them?"

Rainbow Dash's mouth dropped open in shock as she heard muffled laughter coming from Applejack and Rarity. Twilight just looked surprised.

"Wait….what? I'm not into mares! Who says that!"

"The internet," Lisa laughed, "and a lot of bronys too."

"But...but Carl and Ryan never mentioned _that_." Rainbow Dash said as her facee turned red in both anger and pure embarrassment. Applejack and Rarity were now on the verge of tears from laughing so hard.

"Oh my, that is simply _uproarious_." Rarity said through her giggles.

"Oh my, that's just great." Applejack laughed, face red from laughing so much.

"Why do they think that?" Rainbow Dash asked Lisa.

"Let's see," Lisa began, putting her hand to her chin, "your mane is the same colors as the flag for the gay community, your mane is styled in a more masculine way, your voice is raspier than most mares and you are into more boyish things, like sports."

Rainbow Dash was now on the verge of tears. Lisa was smiling demonically. normally she would have been much more respectable to these six characters, after all she loved MLP as well. But Carl had put her into a bad mood by blackmailing her into staying up, and when Lisa was in a bad mood, no one was safe from her wrath. Applejack and Rarity laughed, not noticing how upset Rainbow Dash was.

Twilight went over to her, "Rainbow Dash are you okay?"

Rainbow Dash nodded, "I'm fine, I mean I know I'm not gay."

"An' how do we know ya ain't lying?" Applejack asked mockingly, still oblivuous to the fact that she was taking it too far.

"Well, you're the element of honesty, you tell me."

"You could be lying to yourself." Lisa teased, also not realizing how she was taking it too far.

"I am not!"

"How do you know?" Lisa asked, leaning down to Rainbow Dash's level.

"BECAUSE RYAN IS A GUY AND I LIKE HIM!" she shouted before her eyes shot open in fear, realizing what she just said. Tears began to fill her eyes and she burst out of the room and into the bathroom across the hall. Luckily Lauren was in her bedroom at this point, watching television and unknowing of all that was happening just down the hall.

Rainbow Dash shut the door and began to sob, her back pressed against the door and her head buried in her hooves.

"I'm a freak…." Rainbow Dash sniffed, "I'm a freak."

Back in Carl's room, there was pure silence. Anna shot Lisa a dirty look before she got up to go after Rainbow Dash, along with most of the other girls. Twilight started to the door, but looked back angrily at Lisa, "You took it way to far Lisa."

Lisa looked down, feeling terrible about what she did.

After she left, only Applejack, Rarity and Lisa remained in the room, also feeling bad about how they acted.

Especially Applejack, who was now conflicted between keeping her promise to Ryan to not tell Rainbow Dash about his feelings, and breaking it to tell Rainbow Dash so she felt better.

**Mr. Courtie's Magic Shop**

James was busy sweeping up the floor of the shop before it closed for the night. He was exhausted and every inch of his body was screaming at him to go home and sleep, but his mind remembered his parents and promptly said _"fuck that"_ before egging him on to continue to find tasks.

Besides, he had to wait for Carl and Ryan regardless, might as well be overly productive. He was working when he heard footsteps behind him followed by a kind, old voice.

"You know if you keep sweeping this long every night you'll leave me with nothing but a stick and I'll have to buy a new broom."

James chuckled and turned to see the gentle, old face of Mr. Courtie giving him a smile, "I know sir, I just felt like there should be no dust on the floor."

James put the broom against the wall and walked over to the back of the store to grab his street clothes. It was so annoying how Mr. Courtie had him wear a uniform for such a small proprietorship, but he never questioned it. After all, he really liked Mr. Courtie, even if he was a bit eccentric.

"I know that's not the only reason you do that, come on. Tell me the truth James."

James too his uniform vest off and threw on his brown t-shirt. "The truth is that, I'm fine."

"You know I can tell when you're lying."

"How, does your "magic" help you with that?" James said with a snarky smile.

Mr. Courtie just chuckled in response, "Ah mocking my profession I see. I expect nothing less from you."

"Glad to see I've left a mark." James said, shutting his locker and starting towards the front to wait for Carl and Ryan. "Anyway, I'm going to wait here until Carl and Ryan pick me up."

Mr. Courtie nodded, but his face showed a quick flash of remorse, before he went back to the storage room. James waited for another few minutes when the bright headlights of Ryan's car flashed brightly into his eyes, temporarily blinding him until the car was turned off.

A few seconds later, Carl and Ryan walked into the store and James glared at them. "You know you two dicks should flash the headlights into my eyes, I could go blind."

"Oh that would be a shame." Ryan said sarcastically.

"So are you ready to head out?" Carl asked. James wiped his nose on his sleeve and nodded.

"Yeah let's bounce," he turned towards the back of the store, "See you tomorrow Mr. Courtie!"

"See you James!" Mr. Courtie shouted back.

Carl sighed, feeling like he should probably say hello to Mr. Courtie, even if he really hadn't spoken to him in years. He turned to Ryan and James.

"Hang on you two I'm going to say hi. I'll be right back." With that, he walked towards the back of the store. He passed all sorts of magical objects which woke a sense of nostalgia from the depths of his soul. He finally went into the storage room to see Mr. Courtie sitting at his desk, writing some stuff down on a piece of paper. Carl cleared his throat, which caused the elderly man to turn around and smile.

"Carl!" he quickly got up and ran over to Carl, wrapping his arms around him in a tight bear-hug. "Oh it's so good to see you my boy!"

"You too Mr. Courtie." He said as the hug was broken. Mr. Courtie smiled and looked him over.

"My lord you've grown."

"Well it has been five years since I've worked here." He said, "But I mean you see me passing by."

"Yes but I haven't gotten this good of a look at you in years."

Carl chuckled as Mr. Courtie snapped his fingers, just then remembering something. "Oh, hang on! I've got something to show you."

With that, he walked over to a table and picked up a black disc, which he brought over to Carl.

"What's that?" asked Carl.

Mr. Courtie smiled, "Just watch." He closed his eyes and seemed to be concentrating with great intensity until a blue aura began to emit itself from the disc.

Carl was stunned at the sight, but he didn't show it and just shrugged.

"So how are you doing that?" he asked flatly.

Mr. Courtie gave Carl his typical grin "Magic, what else?"

Carl rolled his eyes and shook his head, "Mr. Courtie, you know that I'm seventeen, you don't have to keep this charade up anymore."

"Ah but it isn't a charade Carl! It's real! Magic is real you just have to have faith in it."

Carl was now getting furious and he hissed, "I had faith in it five years ago and what the hell did _that_ accomplish?" Mr. Courtie's expression fell from a smile into an almost depressed look. Carl turned and started to walk out, not turning around even as Mr. Courtie began to call after him. He didn't care, he was seething. How dare this man try to tell him that bullshit idea that magic existed. I mean, he knew that Twilight and Rarity could use magic sinc they were unicorns, but as far as humans on Earth? Eh….no, just no.

Carl made his way to the front of the store. "Come on guys let's get going."

Carl then noticed that Ryan was staring at something that was hanging up on the wall, some sort of poster. James was standing near him, looking annoyed.

"What are you two doing?"

James rolled his eyes and pointed to Ryan, "Ask Mr. Inquisitive over here." Carl walked over to Ryan and looked at what he was looking at. When he saw it, his jaw dropped.

It was a picture of two, animated unicorns that clearly were from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. One unicorn was Twilight, but the other was one that none of the boys recognized. It had a light blue coat and white mane. Its cutie mark appeared to be a magic wand with a yellow spark coming off of it. But something was strange about it, it looked almost too well drawn to be fan-art, and that's saying something considering all of the brilliant fan-art that existed.

Ryan looked over at Mr. Courtie, who had just appeared in the room.

"Mr. Courtie, where did you get this My Little Pony picture from?"

Mr. Courtie suddenly looked nervous.

"I just got it online."

"Who is that pony there?" Carl asked, pointing to the blue one.

"Oh Celestia knows I have no idea."

This grabbed all three boys' attention, even James, who was until then trying to hide the fact that he knew about the show.

"Don't you mean _Lord_ knows?" Carl said, taking a step towards Mr. Courtie, whose eyes darted beck and forth for a second when Carl was right in his face, "Are you a brony?"

"No." Mr. Courtie said with a sigh.

"Then why do you have this picture?" Carl asked.

Mr. Courtie looked at Carl and sighed, "I think it's time I told you the truth Carl."

Carl looked at Mr. Courtie when the old man looked back, "Carl you're the Element of Magic."

Carl was shocked. Not at the fact that he was an element since he already knew that, but because Mr. Courtie knew.

"Yeah I know, but how….how do you know?" Carl stuttered and Mr. Courtie pointed to the picture.

"That unicorn in that picture is named Bright Illusion, he's Twilight's Uncle," Mr. Courtie sighed, "and he owns this shop."

"Wait! I thought you owned this shop." James asked, clearly confused as hell.

Mr. Courtie looked at James and gave him a small nod, "Exactly."

**Well there it is. Again, don't expect chapters to be up quickly as I have schoolwork to do. Organic Chemistry and a 200-level spanish class can be quite trying.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading and don't forget to review. :) **

**Go Giants!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Questioning Reality and Confronting Emotions**

**Here's Chapter 4. This chapter has some more action than the other chapters have had. **

**And, as usual, I own nothing except my OC Characters.**

**Mr. Courtie's Magic Shop**

All three of the boys looked at Mr. Courtie in shock after what he had told them. Seeing this, Mr. Courtie sighed and gestured for the boys to follow him into the back room. Understandably, Ryan and Carl were more inclined to believe Mr. Courtie's story, but James thought the old man had simply lost his mind and went along with the hope that he could bring him back to "reality".

Once in the back, Mr. Courtie sat in his desk chair. He turned to face the boys with a very serious look on his face. Much more serious than any of the three teens were used to from this generally giddy and light-hearted old man who now claimed to be a unicorn from Equestria. Not to mention Twilight's uncle.

"So where to begin?" he asked, thinking for a moment, "Twilight already has visited you Carl?" Carl nodded and Mr. Courtie turned to Ryan, "And you don't seem too shocked about this revelation, either. Are you one of the other five elements?"

Ryan nodded, "Yeah, um….l-loyalty."

"Well that only leaves four more." Mr. Courtie said with a small nod, as if to say that they were off to a good start. This was all James could take before he burst out laughing, causing everyone to turn towards him.

"Are you three serious?" he asked with a laugh, "Christ Ryan I thought Christians preaching was bad, but this…this is _psychotic_! Saying six cartoon ponies are somehow in this universe and have met you, _and _that you are elements of harmony, _and _to top it all off, Mr. Courtie, you say you're Twilight Sparkle's uncle?" James almost fell to the ground from laughing so hard. He clutched his stomach as tears rolled down his eyes.

"I take it you don't believe us." Mr. Courtie said jokingly.

James' laughter lessened and once he regained his breath he looked Mr. Courtie in his eyes, "No shit I don't believe you. I have a hard enough time believing that God exists, something that millions of people across the world do, and yet you expect me to believe this tripe about cartoon ponies?"

"So wait, James, are you a brony?" Ryan finally asked and James looked at him.

"Well you guys are clearly nuts so I'll just go ahead and admit it. Yes, I like My Little Pony, congratulations; you are the first people that I've told, do you want some sort of medal, or a cookie?"

"Both would be splendid." Ryan said with a smirk.

"Actually, James, the reason that you need to come back to my house is because you're the element of kindness." Carl stated.

Once again, James burst out into hysterics, "Fuck, it's like I'm the only sane one in a room full of mental patients."

"You're an atheist, aren't you James?" Mr. Courtie asked.

James shook his head, "Agnostic."

"Oh agnostic, big risk you've taken." Mr. Courtie said with a sarcastic smile, "you're too "intelligent" for organized religion, yet you're too much of a coward to say God doesn't exist."

"What business is it of yours what I believe?" James asked. He was shocked at how Mr. Courtie suddenly changed from a sweet old man into a crazy jerk.

"I'm just saying it doesn't surprise me that someone who is skeptical of things like religion would find this to be complete lunacy."

"This isn't just lunacy; it's complete bullshit."

"How do you know? Just because you chose not to believe in something doesn't make it so."

James laughed, "Fine, you want me to believe you, make me believe. Go ahead, _show me_ your magic great and might unicorn of Equestria."

Mr. Courtie smiled, "With pleasure."

James rolled his eyes, while both Carl and Ryan looked at him with anxiety.

A few seconds later the room began to shake. Now all of the boys, including James, looked around nervously before looking back at Mr. Courtie.

Mr. Courtie's eyes were engulfed in a pale, blue glow. His hands and forehead had an aura of the same color as well. He was giving a sadistic smile when the room suddenly began to rotate (think the rotating hallway scene in "Inception").

The three boys lost their balance and fell to the ground. Amazingly, they were the only things in the room to move or fall over. Even with the room rotating Mr. Courtie still remained in his seat and none of the furniture budged in the slightest. Not even the items precariously placed on the shelves on the walls moved an inch. Only the three teenage boys rolled around on the floor, trying to find something, anything, to grab ahold of.

Ryan grabbed onto a table-leg, and Carl grabbed a different leg on that same table.

James scrambled around until he laid eyes on a large, medieval cross that was in the middle of the room, right in front of Mr. Courtie. He lunged at it and took hold just as he was lifted into the air. All three boys were not upside-down, hanging from furniture that was on the floor, which was now technically the ceiling. James was directly above a fan and he was staring at it in fear, bringing his knees up as way to hoist himself up to a safer position.

Now, Mr. Courtie's shop had a ceiling that was pretty high, so falling from where the boys were would have resulted in definite injury, maybe not death, but a broken arm or leg. But the fan had a decorative design that resulted in a large, silver spike-shaped feature that was pointing up, directly at James. If James fell onto it, he'd be in serious trouble.

Meanwhile, Mr. Courtie was now upside down, still in his chair, engulfed in the blue aura.

"Is that proof enough for you James?"

"Parlor tricks." James said as he began to breathe rapidly.

"Parlor tricks you say?" Mr. Courtie said as he rubbed his chin and he pointed at the cross that James held onto. "You know I love the irony of you holding onto that cross for dear life after being proven wrong about belief."

"Shut up!" James shouted, adjusting himself so his arms were wrapped around the cross and he was hanging on as tightly as he possible could. "You didn't prove anything!"

"So you still don't believe this is magic?"

"No." James said with uncertainty in his voice.

Mr. Courtie smiled and shrugged, "Beautiful."

Mr. Courtie raised his glowing hand, which was no longer a hand, rather it was a light blue hoof, and pointed to the cross that James was holding onto. The cross was suddenly released of its hold on the "floor" and James fell towards the fan that was below him, screaming as the spike neared him.

Just before his chest hit the spike, he stopped in mid-air, eyes wide and mouth agape as the spike was literally three inches below. A blue aura had caught him just before impact. Slowly, he was lifted up, away from the fan, and rotated so that he was floating in an almost standing position except his legs were behind him, as if her were kneeling in a church.

Mr. Courtie looked at James as he began to change, starting with his hands and feet, and then with is head, into the unicorn that was in the picture. He changed into Bright Illusion. When he was done transforming, he looked at James and his muzzle-shaped mouth curled into a smile.

"Let me ask you," He said as the room began to rotate back to its normal position, "do you believe in magic now?"

James couldn't answer as he was too frightened and flabbergasted to do so.

Once the room returned to its normal state, Mr. Courtie gently lowered the terrified James to the floor. James quickly scrambled back behind Carl and Ryan, eyes wide in fear as he looked directly at Bright Illusion as if he was some sort of demon.

Bright Illusion stood up and walked over to Carl and gave him a smile, "I was assigned by Princess Celestia to make sure you never lost your faith in magic. That is why you worked for me when you were younger. I know that I failed to make sure the world didn't corrupt you and take your faith away, but I hope that you will be able to find it again."

Carl was speechless for a few seconds before he managed to get a few words out, "But…you're a unicorn. I mean, you're supposed to do magic. Humans still can't."

"That's correct," Bright Illusion said, "now you know it doesn't matter what dimension or universe that you're in, magic can exist if the right people are present. Physics can't stop it."

Carl slowly nodded before Ryan stepped forward. "So, you've always known? About us being the Elements?"

Bright Illusion nodded, "Yes, and I am one of the only allies you have in this town. As you know, Discord is here and he has control over many people and his power over them is great."

"He…he can't possibly control all of that…can he?" James asked with a gulp, slowly regaining his ability to speak, though he was still in shock.

"Think about it, which person living here can easily cause mass chaos, someone who is in control of the police, school, and the local government, someone who can manipulate people with ease, someone who has caused chaos in the form of increased crime by anarchists, someone who has created tension between the poor and the rich here in Wilmont, someone who wants to "change the system", someone whose opponent was killed in an "accident" at a Diner last night?"

Carl's eyes went wide, "You mean the Mayor? Mayor Drocsid?"

"Discord, yes."

Carl thought for a second and his eyes went wide. "Wait, his name is Discord backwards." Carl said and Bright Illusion nodded. He laughed a bit at this, "Wow, I'm surprised no bronies noticed that, they would bring up Wilmont's tourism income if they did."

"Discord's plan is to cause anarchy to rise in Wilmont, with the hope that it will spread. The recession hit Wilmont hard two years ago and people were desperate. Discord knew how to manipulate the anger that people had with the economy through inspirational speeches and class warfare, something that's always existed in Wilmont, but never to the extent that it is at now. The fire was there, he just added to it."

"He knew that humans are not innocent like ponies. That humanity is corrupted by the reality we live in. Each one of us lacks faith in the six elements that Equestrians, namely my niece and her friends, believe in and cherish every day. Discord knew this and that's why he chose this world to rebuild his strength, because it was more prone to violence, chaos, and discontent. "

"The anarchist gangs that have been appearing; they're his work. He has evil ponies working for him, mostly in positions that the local government controls, such as the police and schools. It doesn't matter how well you think you know everyone in this town, no one is trustworthy."

"No one?" Carl asked.

Bright Illusion shook his head, "No, only the other Elements of Harmony." He said, looking over at James, who was still shocked.

"So I…am an Element too?" James asked, "Did Carl say that?"

"Yes, he said you're kindness, no?" Bright looked at Carl who nodded, "which means that you still have to find generosity, honesty and laughter and _fast_."

Carl then realized the seriousness of the situation and turned to Ryan and James, "Guys, we need to go." Just before they left, Bright Illusion stopped them by putting his hoof out.

"Wait, one more thing." With that, he closed his eyes and a familiar blue aura appeared, in the air in front of him. James suddenly got scared, but his worry subsided as the aura's brightness dimmed and a symbol appeared. The symbol was a black letter "D", with a draconequus wrapped around it like a snake.

Bright Illusion pointed to it, "If anyone has this tattoo on their hand, know that their allegiance is with Discord, and get away from them as fast as possible."

Slowly, Bright Illusion turned back into his human form of Mr. Courtie and the symbol disappeared from the air. He gave the boys his kind smile.

Carl nodded and turned to the others, "Okay guys, let's go."

The three started out when Carl stopped. As Ryan and James headed towards Ryan's car, Carl went back to Mr. Courtie and hugged him, "I'm sorry for holding a grudge against you for years." He muttered before breaking off. Mr. Courtie gave Carl his warm smile and nodded.

"Don't worry about it, now get back to my niece. Protect her, and tell her that I say hello."

Carl nodded, "Honestly, sir, I think she'll protect me as much as I protect her."

Mr. Courtie nodded with a small smile as Carl headed out to join James and Ryan outside.

**City Hall**

After the chaotic day in the building, which Drocsid just _relished_ in, the place turned back into its empty, desolate self that it did every night. Brett was still in his office as he had some serious business to do for Drocsid. He was sitting at his desk in his office and pulled out his phone and dialed the police station.

After a few rings, he heard. _Yes Dark?_

Brett smiled, "We're looking for a Black Chevy Tahoe circa 2007."

"_Copy that. Hail Discord."_

"Hail Discord."

He hung up and leaned back into his chair. He looked down at his hand, which turned into a hoof, and began to twirl some aura around it, feeling its energy course through.

"Hail Discord." He muttered sternly.

**Carl's House**

While most of the girls had gone back into Carl's room, Rainbow Dash was still in the bathroom with her tear-streaked face buried in her hooves. She still was shaking from fear and embarrassment at what she had said about Ryan.

"_Why couldn't I just be a normal mare and fall for a stallion?"_

She thought this, but then she sadly thought one more thing, _"Why couldn't Ryan be a stallion?"_

Only Pinkie Pie and Applejack were still near the door, but still, everypony, Lisa and Anna were concerned for her.

She heard a knock followed by Pinkie Pie's voice from the other side of the door. "Rainbow Dash, come on out! Don't be a party pooper, nopony thinks you're weird."

"I can't" she said sadly.

She then heard another knock, "Okay sugarcube, you've been in there long enough. Come out so we can talk."

"No, go away. None of you guys understand how I feel." She said with some anger as she sniffled a bit and wiped some stray tears away from her eyes. "I mean…I don't even understand."

"RD, listen ya have just got to relax."

"Easy for you to say." Rainbow Dash said. "B-but if Ryan finds out, he'd hate me."

"Have ya seen how Ryan worships you? Ah promise ya he won't think of ya any different if he found out."

"Yes he would. He'd freak out. I mean, it's not like he feels the same way about me."

There was a long silence after this, and Rainbow Dash looked towards the door. "Um AJ, are you still there?"

A few more seconds of silence before she speaks up, "Uh-huh."

"Wait, do you know something about Ryan?"

Another silence, Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and opened the door. On the other side, she saw Pinkie Pie and Applejack still there. Pinkie Pie was looking at her and her face instantly lit up. Applejack, meanwhile, was looking at Rainbow Dash with a red face, as if she was hiding something.

"Oh Rainbow Dash, you've finally come out! Yay!" Pinkie Pie said, jumping up and down happily.

"One second Pinkie Pie." She said before grabbing Applejack and dragging her into the bathroom. She shut the door and turned crossly to her friend. Applejack still had a very nervous look on her face and she seemed to be avoiding Rainbow Dash's eyes.

"Okay, start talking AJ. What do you know about Ryan?"

"A-ah don't know anything." Applejack said nervously.

"Applejack, there's a reason that you're the Element of Honesty. It's because you're terrible at lying, now tell me the truth."

Applejack sighed and looked up at Rainbow Dash sadly and sighed in slight defeat, "Ah promised that I wouldn't say anything."

Rainbow Dash grabbed Applejack and pulled her face close to her own, which showed pleading. "Please AJ, you've got to tell me, what do you know about Ryan." Tears started to form in her eyes as she said this. "Please."

Applejack sighed and looked down, "Ryan; please forgive me for this." She whispered under her breath before looking back up into Rainbow Dash's eyes. "Ryan told me that he has a…crush on you."

Rainbow Dash's face was shock, pure shock. The tears started to stop forming and she wiped her eyes. "He…_sniff_….really does?"

Applejack nodded. "He even had a dream about being a Pegasus and flying with you, and then _kissing_ you."

"Really?" Applejack nodded and Rainbow Dash's shocked expression became ecstatic as she hugged Applejack. "Thank you AJ!"

Applejack let out a sigh of relief before they broke the hug. "No problem RD. Are ya gonna tell him?"

Rainbow Dash nodded, "Yeah."

"When?"

"Later on tonight, I've got a plan." She said with a sly smirk.

Applejack gave her friend a nervous look and Rainbow Dash's expression fell when she realized what Applejack thought. "Oh no! Not that! Please! I just meant telling him in a cool way! Geez, what kind of mare do you think I am AJ?" Rainbow Dash said before chuckling.

"Oh, uh, okay then." Applejack said.

Both girls giggled and walked out of the bathroom to join the rest of them in Carl's bedroom, Rainbow Dash feeling much happier and more excited than she had in a long time.

**Street- Night**

While all of that drama was going on in Carl's house; Carl, James and Ryan were still heading back. James was in the back-seat, trembling a bit as he still tried to rationalize what just happened. Carl was thinking about it as well, and Ryan just kept driving down the dark, desolate road, thoughts changing between Mr. Courtie and Rainbow Dash.

"So we need to find a way to get to the mayor, right?" Ryan said, looking over at Carl.

"Wrong, we can't let him know who we are yet. Besides, we still need to find the other three elements." Carl muttered.

"Good point, for now we should stay under wraps, right?" Ryan asked. Carl nodded without looking at him. He was busy texting Lisa to make sure everything was all right back at the house. After sending the message, he put his phone back into his lap and leaned back against his headrest and let out a deep sigh.

"Right," Carl looked through the rearview mirror to James in the back, "hey James, buddy, are you all right?"

James didn't answer immediately, so Carl tried again, "James!"

James quickly looked up at Carl, still shaky.

"Huh? Yeah I'm….I'm fine."

"Look let's just get back to your house and deal with it when we get there." Ryan muttered.

Suddenly, the serene darkness of the night was eliminated by the sudden flashing of red and blue and the sound of a police siren coming from behind them. The boys turned around to see a black and yellow Wilmont Police Dept. SUV trailing them, the sirens blaring and lights flashing.

"Why is that cop coming after us?" Carl muttered.

"I don't know, I've been going the speed limit." Ryan said, "Maybe they saw the tinted windows in this car? My parents have been ticketed for that before."

"I don't know man, just pull over." Carl said nervously.

Ryan pulled his car to the side of the road and the Police SUV stopped behind them. The three boys sat nervously in their seats, each one thinking about their own worst-case scenarios as to why the cop had pulled them over.

After a few seconds a tall officer with brown hair went over to the driver's side window and knocked. Ryan lowered it and gave the officer a smile, "Good evening officer, what seems to be the problem?"

"We got word that this car is stolen."

Ryan's eyes went wide, "St-stolen?" the officer nodded and Ryan looked at him with confusion, "but, this is my car. My parents bought it, I didn't steal it."

"It's true, officer, he didn't." Carl said, "His parents have had this car for four years."

The officer glared at Carl, "I don't remember asking you a god-damned thing, son."

Carl looked away from the officer's piercing glare and down at the officer's hand. That's when it caught his eye.

A familiar tattoo was located on the skin of the hand in-between the pointer finger and the thumb. A black "D" with a draconequus wrapped around it Carl's eyes went wide in horror as he looked up at the officer, who was still talking to Ryan.

"Listen, I promise you this car isn't stolen. Go ahead and look it up now in your truck, Mr. and Mrs. Davis."

The officer let out a deep sigh and walked back to his truck for a second. Carl watched as he left while Ryan rubbed his head from the stress that this "man of the law" had brought upon him.

"Man, fuck the police." James whispered with a small smile.

"Ryan, drive." Carl said flatly as he watched the officer get into his cruiser and begin to look up Ryan's parents. Ryan shot Carl an angry look.

"What!"

"He had a Discord tattoo on his hand, the one Mr. Courtie showed us."

Ryan's eyes went wide. "He did?"

Carl nodded, "Ryan, floor it."

Ryan didn't need to be told again as he took off the parking break and slammed his foot on the gas. The car sped off as the officer quickly got into position to chase them down.

"What the hell are you doing!" James shouted, very unclear about what was happening.

"We're getting the hell out of here." Carl said to James before he turned to Ryan, "We need to get off of this road."

"Where?"

Carl looked around, but didn't see anything that could be done to lose the cop. He shook his head, "I don't know."

Carl knew that there was no way for them to out-drive the officer, especially if he called for back-up. He stomped his foot, _"Fuck, there's got to be something that I can do!"_ he thought.

"_There is something you can do Carl."_ said an elegant female voice that Carl heard in his head.

"_Who's…who's this?" _he thought back.

"_Let's just say I'm watching over you and your friends, and my faithful student and her friends."_

Carl's eyes went wide when he heard that, _"P-Princess Celestia?"_

Carl heard a small chuckle, _"Who else?"_

"_Please tell me you know how we can get away."_ Carl thought.

"_Follow your heart and you'll be able to do it."_

"_What?"_

"_Believe in your element."_

Carl sighed at the overly generic advice that people often gave in movies when the screenwriter couldn't think of anything else. Carl then tried to focus on magic, hoping that it would cause something to happen, but nothing did. It was like his element on its own wasn't working.

"_It's not working."_

"_Keep trying Carl, you can do it."_

Carl nodded and began to think, his eyes closed and his face stoic. Ryan looked over at him annoyed,

"What are you doing? We're being chased by one of Discord's cronies and all you can do is nap?"

"Hang on." Carl muttered as he continued to think.

Carl began to think about magic, which required him to forget his bad experiences with it in the past and focus on what it meant to him now. Initially, it wasn't working. But then, he began to think about Twilight, and something inside of him sparked. It was like she was the representation of pure magic to him. But it wasn't really her magic that he thought of, rather than her, her violet eyes that matched his own, her sweet voice that made his heart flutter with happiness, her intelligence that no girl at Wilmont came even close to having, all of which flooded his mind and made him happy.

Suddenly his heart felt hot, he looked down to his chest and saw a purple aura glowing from inside of him. He also felt his hands becoming hot and saw the purple aura spread to his hands and begin to lift out of his skin and float around his arms and chest, almost like purple flames.

Ryan and James watched all of this in awe, not sure what to do other than stare awkwardly at their friend.

"_Congratulations Carl, you've embraced your element. Now use it."_

Carl turned back in his seat to look at the police car through the back window. He stuck his hand out towards it, eyes focused on the words "Wilmont Police Department" that were in yellow on the hood of the car. He concentrated with all of his might on making the car vanish, _"Stop following us you mother…"_

Suddenly, a purple aura surrounded the police truck and a few seconds later, it was gone. The cruiser was no longer chasing them, the sirens were gone and Ryan's car was the only vehicle left on the road.

Ryan and James were speechless and Carl just stared in admiration at what he just did. He turned back forward in his seat and looked at the road ahead. He then looked down at his hand in amazement.

"Okay…what!" James said, ""what the hell did you do?"

Carl looked back up at the road, his hands still glowing purple.

"Ryan get ready to swerve out of the way." With that, Carl focused on the road ahead to make the police car re-appear. Suddenly, another purple aura appeared, followed by a loud _POP_, then the sight of the police truck falling from the sky, upside down, and landing on the road in front of Ryan's truck.

Ryan screamed as he quickly turned the car out of the way so he left the road for a few seconds and let his 4-wheel drive take care of the rest. James was also screaming, but Carl was too stunned to utter a sound. He was just frozen in place. After getting by the upside-down police truck, Ryan swerved back onto the road and kept heading off.

The rest of the ride could be described as an awkward silence where James stared in shock at Carl, who was busy staring at his hands, which still emitted a faint purple glow. Ryan also glanced at Carl every now and then when the road didn't require too much of his vision.

After a little bit Ryan finally reached Carl's neighborhood. He made a sharp turn down the street and kept going until he reached Carl's house. He threw the brakes on and turned the car off.

They all got out in a panic and ran onto Carl's lawn. Ryan ran over to Carl as James stumbled over, clearly the most freaked out.

"How did they know what car I drive?" Ryan asked in a panic.

"I don't know, they must have someone who is spying on us."

Just then Ryan remembered something that Mr. Courtie told them, "Oh no, didn't Mr. Courtie say Discord was responsible for the increase in anarchist gangs?"

Carl nodded and Ryan bit his lip and stomped on the ground, not noticing as James breathed out, "Guys I'm…I'm gonna puke."

"Lawrence is in one of those gangs, so he must work for Discord."

"How would he know about us being the elements, though?"

"Because, he saw Rainbow Dash run at him and lay him out!" he said, "he probably knows that normal girls can't run that fast or hit that hard and told him that I was the one that she saved."

"So they know that you're one of the elements now?" Carl asked, and Ryan nodded.

"Yeah."

"Guys…" James muttered again.

"Dude what am I going to do? What if they go to my house and try to kill me or my parents, or Rainbow Dash! They know my parents name, they know my car! I'm fucked!" Ryan shouted in fear. Just then, James hurled all over the lawn. Carl jumped back a little and Ryan leapt backwards before shooting a furious look at James.

"What the fuck man! What the fuck!" Ryan shouted.

"I had to throw up you asshole." James growled angrily as he stood back up.

"I'm sorry! I'm just a little freaked out now!" Ryan shouted back.

"Will you both keep it down?" Carl whispered harshly, looking around to see some lights in the neighbor's homes go on, "Come on let's get inside before we wake the whole neighborhood up."

The boys went into Carl's house and shut the door. They stopped in the main entry-way of the house, just below the staircase.

"Okay James, listen, remember don't freak out about what you see…." Carl started when James looked at him angrily and took a step closer to him.

"After what I saw, do you _really_ think I could freak out anymore?"

Aaaaannnddd….you know what's coming next.

Pinkie popped out of literally no-where ("FUCK YOU SCIENCE!") and jumped up and down in James' face.

"Hi James, you may not remember me but I'm Pinkie Pie, well you called me Penelope earlier today, but Pinkie Pie is my real name! I know we've already met, but I thought that I could introduce myself to you as I really am!" She extended a hoof to James.

Now, James did see Mr. Courtie turn into a unicorn and say Twilight was his niece, and he knew the mane six were in Carl's house. But the sight of Pinkie Pie jumping up and down was more shocking than he thought it would be. James just looked at Pinkie blankly before he finally muttered, "Oh, you've got to be kidding me."

At this point, the girls all exited Carl's room.

"Um Pinkie, how did you get out?" Lisa asked, confused. "The door what shut."

Anna glared at Lisa, "Lisa, do you even _watch_ the show?" Lisa then realized that what Pinkie did had no rhyme or reason.

Twilight looked down at them from the top step, "What happened to you guys? You look like you just saw a ghost." Twilight then saw the stunned James and pointed to him, "especially you."

"There's no way, there's just no way." James kept muttering.

"Oh for the love of Pete, Carl, I thought ya said yer friends wouldn't be in denial every time they saw us!" Applejack said.

"No I said I wouldn't keep calling people over to confirm that you were real." Carl corrected and Applejack roller her eyes.

James began to feel faint and almost passed out when he caught a glimpse of yellow and pink hiding behind Rarity. His eyes went wide as he was suddenly more awake due to a surge of excitement. He took a step towards the stairs and looked up.

"F-Fluttershy?" He asked timidly to the mare who had meant so much to him, especially in regards to Caroline. He started up the stairs towards her as she backed away timidly. He slowed his ascent and extended his hand to her.

"Hey, please don't be afraid, come on, I'm not going to hurt you." He said softly, trying to convince her to come over to him. She looked at him with her big, innocent blue eyes and slowly trotted over. And by slowly, she did it _slowly_. Carl and Ryan watched in amazement as Fluttershy pressed her face into James' hand and began to nuzzle it.

"Wow I've never seen her act like that." Twilight muttered to herself. "Hey James!"

James turned to see Twilight looking at him with a smile. James pointed at her and smiled.

"You were Tara, weren't you?" he asked and Twilight nodded.

"Yes."

"So you're really Twilight Sparkle."

"Correct."

"Just clarifying." James said with a smile, which made Twilight giggle a bit. James sat on the top step so he could put his arm around Fluttershy's shoulder, which she allowed him to do after initially drawing back a bit. He turned to Carl. "So I'm the element of Kindness?"

Carl nodded. He then told James everything that he knew so far, making sure to bring up how he was partnered with Fluttershy.

That made James the happiest that he had been in years.

Rainbow Dash walked up to Ryan and decided to act like she knew nothing about his love for her. She'd show him her own way of showing her affection to him.

And no it's _not_ that, so don't even think about it.

"Ryan, are you all right?" she asked him sweetly.

Ryan gave her a nod. Rainbow Dash looked into his face with concerned eyes. "Are you sure? You seem really tired."

"Yeah, I'm good." Ryan said with a smile, "thanks though."

Rainbow Dash nodded as she noticed Ryan's blush for the first time.

"_Wow he really does like me; I can't believe I've never realized it before."_

Meanwhile, Ryan was thinking about different aspects about her to write a poem on. As he looked at her, he knew that her eyes had to be the focus. After all, when he looked into them, he never wanted to look at anything else. But then there was her beautifully multi-colored mane, her cyan fur, her great smile.

"_Fuck finding the most appealing aspect of a girl you like is hard."_ Ryan thought.

He also hoped the poem would cure him of his strange feelings towards her. If not that, maybe he could just use it as means to vent his feelings.

"Excuse me Ryan." Rainbow Dash said as she walked over towards Lisa, Carl and Anna.

"Thank you girls for watching them." Carl said.

Anna nodded with a smile and Lisa shrugged.

"It's was nothing." She stated flatly before looking down at her feet as she still felt bad about how far she took the joke with Rainbow Dash.

That was when she felt a hoof on her leg and looked down to see Rainbow Dash smiling at her.

"Rainbow Dash, look I'm…." she was cut off when Rainbow Dash got on her hind legs and hugged her waist as if to show her that she was forgiven.

Lisa sighed in relief and hugged Rainbow Dash back, trying to hold back her tears of shame. But her thinking was interrupted when Rainbow Dash looked up at her and whispered, "Thank you."

Lisa broke the hug and looked at Rainbow Dash, confused as hell, as the cyan mare simply walked back over to Ryan to talk with him more.

The group talked a bit longer, James was even starting to get even closer to Fluttershy, which was a huge accomplishment for such a shy mare and a realist teen boy, when suddenly a purple flash came from Carl's room.

Next, there was a "_thud_" and a groan that sounded like it came from a young boy.

"What was that?" Anna asked, looking up towards Carl's room.

Everyone and everypony went upstairs into Carl's room to see none other than Spike lying face-down on Carl's bed.

Spike groaned a bit, as he sat up, rubbing his head with one hand as he held a rolled up piece of paper in his other.

"Spike? Are you okay?" Twilight asked.

"Uh, yeah I think so." He said, bouncing up and down a bit on the bed while sitting. He chuckled, "he-he, lucky for me the bed was here to break my fall."

"Spike, dear, what _are_ you doing here?" Rarity said, asking the question that everyone was thinking.

"Well," he said, hopping off of Carl's bed, "the Princess wanted me to be here in case she had any information that she wanted to send to you all."

"What, being in my head wasn't enough for her?" Carl asked. Twilight gave him a look of surprise.

"Carl, did Princess Celestia communicate with you in your mind?" she asked.

Carl nodded, "Yeah, actually that's how we ditched the cop."

"You have got to tell me about this later." She whispered to him with excitement and curiosity, like she really wanted to know more about Carl's experience.

"So Spike, what did the Princess want us to know?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Spike took out the parchment and unrolled it. He held it in front of himself and gave a look of such concentration that it was as if he was about to give the State of the Union Address. He cleared his throat.

"_Dear Twilight Sparkle,_

_I have done some extensive research and found out the first names of all six of Earth's elements. Unfortunately, I do not know their last names, but every one of the Elements of Harmony of Earth knows each other from somewhere. To what extent, I am not sure. However, I hope that these six names will help you find the remainder of them. _

_Regards,_

_Princess Celestia_

_P.S. The names of the elements are Carl, Ryan, James, Alex, Peter and Louis, and I know you already found the first three. _

At that, the three boys looked at each other. James then realized that Alex was most likely the Alex that Princess Celestia was referring to.

"Alex is one, really?" James asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Maybe, we'll have to meet him tomorrow so I can check him out." Twilight said, pointing to her horn. "I'll be able to tell if he's an element or not."

James pointed to her, "So _that's_ why you pressed your head against my chest. You were checking to see if I was an element." He asked and Twilight nodded.

"Yep, that's how I'm able to do it. Oh, Spike! What are the other two names?"

"Um…it says their names are Peter and Louis."

"Peter and Louis?" Ryan asked before his eyes widened, "Wait! Wasn't that kid who Lawrence beat up today named Pete?"

"Peter Reynolds, yes." Carl muttered.

"Oh I like that boy a lot! Hey! Maybe he's the Element of Laughter!" Pinkie exclaimed with an excited gasp. "I would love to hang out with him!"

"Um….so what elements are left, if you don't mind me asking?" Fluttershy asked from beside James, slightly leaning against his leg in the cutest possible manner.

"Laughter, honesty and generosity." Applejack said, "Ah guarantee ya I got Alex, after all we hit it off back at the mall."

"And I bet I have Pete!" Pinkie shouted happily, jumping into the air.

"_I don't know which one of my grandparents gave my mom the gift of being a heavy sleeper, but I thank you."_ Carl thought as he was thankful that his mother's deep slumber allowed the ponies and people to talk without fear of waking her. Especially Pinkie Pie, whose normal speaking voice was louder than it should have been.

"And who is this Louis that I might be partnered with?" Rarity asked. "Oh I hope he's a gentlecolt."

"That's the thing Rarity, I don't know about that name, I don't know anyone named Louis." Carl said when James held up his hand.

"Wait! Louis Alderez!" James said with pride that he thought that he figured out the mystery. Everyone looked at him with confusion.

"I'm sorry, who is that?" Carl asked with a raised eye-brow.

"You know, the kid at the party last night who got me marijuana." James said with a smile.

Carl shook his head, "No James, I seriously doubt that the person who deals drugs would be partnered with Rarity out of anypony."

James rolled his eyes, "He isn't a dealer, he just had some extra weed on him. Besides, I don't know any other Louis….Louis…er…whatever the plural of Louis is."

"All right, I assume you have his number?" Carl asked and James nodded.

"Okay, so you text Louis and Alex to meet us at the park tomorrow for a picnic and I'll Facebook Pete, as I assume none of us have his number on us. Let me know later tonight if Louis and Alex get back to you and agree to meet."

With that Carl sighed and looked around his room at all of the cartoon characters, "Which leads me to the next issue, what are we going to do with all of you guys?"

"Well I'm staying with Ryan!" Rainbow Dash said with pure excitement before giving Ryan a huge grin. Ryan heart melted at her excitement and adorable smile.

"_Why do I have to repress these feelings," _Ryan thought, _"she's so cute."_

"Ah will too." Applejack said, walking over to Ryan with Rainbow Dash.

"Um….James, do you mind if I stay…with…" Fluttershy started, but was too scared to finish. She just looked down and began to dig her foot into the carpet. James smiled at her, kneeled down and hugged her, which caused her to "_eep_" (like in every other fan-fiction that I've read), "of course you can stay with me Fluttershy."

"Oh! I'll stay with James!" Pinkie Pie shouted, but Carl tapped her on the shoulder. The pink mare turned to Carl, still with a big smile on her face.

"Actually, Pinkie, since we have three rooms and three people to watch you here, if you want to, you can sleep in either Anna's or Lisa's room. That way James doesn't have to be responsible for two."

"Okey dokey!" Pinkie Pie nodded and turned to Carl's sisters. Anna smiled and gestured her over.

"Pinkie you can sleep in my room." Anna said.

"Yay!" she said before she bounced over.

"Rarity, you can sleep in Lisa's room." Carl said, and then he turned to Twilight and Spike. "And you two can sleep in here."

He turned to everyone else in the room, "Sound good?"

Everyone nodded in agreement as they began to get ready to head their separate ways for the night. Tomorrow was certainly going to be a busy day.

Lisa and Anna went off to bed, and James was outside in Ryan's car with Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Fluttershy. Ryan was about to head out when Carl stopped him.

"Look, they know what car you drive and who your parents are, Ryan, I need you to lay low for the next few days."

Ryan looked at Carl, clearly angry, "What? But I wanted to go to the mall tomorrow to see the other elements."

"It's the only way to make sure we all stay unknown. Just take the day off with Rainbow Dash and hang out with her. I'll come by to pick up Applejack so she and Alex can meet again."

Ryan was about to protest, but then stopped when he saw Carl's face, cold and serious as the night.

"Fine." He sighed before walking out and Carl shut the door. As he left, both he and Carl suddenly realized something. Ryan realized that he and Rainbow Dash would be able to have some alone time to connect. He spirits picked up and he grinned in anticipation.

He still wasn't planning on telling her, but he thought some alone time would be a good way to gauge what direction their relationship was going in.

Carl, on the other hand, realized what he just did and grimaced. But then he remembered how Twilight made him feel when he was working up his magic to deal with the cop. He began to get scared as he realized that he did, in fact, have some romantic feelings for Twilight, whether he liked it or not.

But, at the moment, he decided to just forget it.

Which was something that he usually was against, he hated denial, yet he was now in it.

**Alex's House**

Alex was sitting on his bed with his laptop open. His earphones were plugged in and he was blasting country music. His green eyes were glued on some random web-pages before he decided to call it a night. He turned the music off and closed his laptop before rubbing his eyes, which hurt from constant computer use, and letting out a deep sigh.

As he brought his computer over to his desk to charge it for the night, he heard his drunken stepfather yelling at his mother downstairs.

When he heard a "_crash_", he quickly ran out of his room and went downstairs to his mother, who was backed into a corner as his stepfather stood above her with a broken bottle of wine. She clutched her head as some blood trickled down her cheeks from the wound. Alex's stepfather then turned around and looked at Alex with pure anger.

"What do you want boy?" he asked Alex, taking a step towards him.

"Leave my mother alone." Alex said nervously.

His stepfather walked closer, and closer, and closer to Alex until the teen could smell the whiskey and wine on his breath.

"Boy do you know your place in this house?"

Alex nervously looked over at his mother, who just sat there. She had always promised to watch over him and love him. But when his stepfather turned his attention from her to Alex, he was on his own. Not to mention that she cheated on Alex's real father with this drunken bastard when he was young, something Alex had never forgiven her for. Alex often wondered by he stood up for his mother so much when she obviously didn't care about his wellbeing, but then he remembered what his father told him in the courtroom the day that the divorce was finalized and his mother won full custody.

"_Son, protect and watch out for your mother, because she's going to need it._"

Alex sighed and looked up at his stepfather, "Yes I do. It's between you and my mother, stopping you from beating her you drunken asshole."

That was all it took to have the old man sock Alex in the face and begin to pummel him into the floor. Alex's mother stood up and slowly walked away, not even caring that her son was being beaten to a pulp, she was just glad it wasn't her.

With each fist that came down into his face, and after watching his mother walk away and leave him to his punishment, Alex had one thought fill his mind repeatedly.

"_I need something better."_

**James' House**

After arriving home, and getting a lecture from his parents, who included the usual _"Patrick would never be out this late"_ crap, James ran upstairs, locked his room, and opened his window so Fluttershy could fly up.

"_Thank you Ryan for the advice."_ He thought as the yellow mare went up into his room.

He shut the window and turned to see Fluttershy standing there, nervously looking down.

"You don't have to be so nervous, Fluttershy. Make yourself at home."

Fluttershy looked up at James, with cuteness that could make the healthiest person contract diabetes.

"Oh thank you James." She smiled before walking around the room.

As she walked around and looked at everything that he had, her eyes fell on an "Obama 2012" poster in his room.

(Just a note, I am a Conservative like Ryan, but I am not going to make this biased against James. It is just to illustrate a point about politics in general).

"Obama 2012?" she asked before turning to James, "What's that?"

"Oh, that's a campaign poster for our President's re-election this year." He said.

"President?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yeah, basically the person who is the head of the country." He said.

"Oh like Princess Celestia?" she asked. James shook his head.

"Not quite, a president is elected by the people. He can only serve two terms, each lasting four years."

Fluttershy nodded, "Oh, so who is he running against?"

James shrugged, "Don't know yet, the Republican Primaries are still going on."

"Republican?"

"It's a political party. There are quite a few but every election comes down to the Republican nominee and the Democrat nominee. I'm a Democrat and Ryan is a Republican."

"How do you decide which party to join?" she asked. James wa somewhat nervous, after all politics was often one of the main reasons why humanity was corrupted and distructful of each other. He didn't want to corrupt her.

"It's all based on how you believe the country should be run." James said, "Democrats are more for government programs and supply-side economics and Republicans are for smaller government and demand-side economics. Actually it's deeper than that, but that's the basic rundown. Debates between the two beliefs can get pretty ugly."

"How?"

"Well, when you're talking about having views on how the country should be run that are polar opposites of each other, it's clear that there will be a lot of arguing and hatred."

"But you and Ryan seem to get along." Fluttershy said.

"That's because we respect each other's views." James sighed, "Most people aren't like that. I mean, you get Republicans calling all Democrats "socialists and communists", and Democrats calling Republicans "fascists and racists". It's a lot worse than I assume it disagreements are back in Equestria."

Fluttershy nodded, "Yes, most ponies respect each other, at least, they seem to." She said. "They do in Ponyville at least. Some of the ponies in Canterlot didn't really like our style of partying."

James nodded and let out a sigh before sitting on his bed, "I just hate how people are so divided in this world based on politics. I hate how you're immediately called names just because you have different beliefs than someone else."

Fluttershy flew up to his bed and sat next to him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"You're a really nice boy, James."

James chuckled, "Thanks Fluttershy, I knew there was a reason why I liked you so much."

Fluttershy blushed and James put his arm around her and hugged her. It wasn't romantic, at least James didn't think it was, rather it was just his way of showing how much he cared about her.

"I think we should go to bed." He said and Fluttershy nodded.

"Yes!" she then gasped, "but wait, where am I going to sleep?"

James gestured to his bed, "We can share the bed."

Fluttershy immediately turned red and looked down, "You…you're okay with that?"

"Of course."

Fluttershy looked up at James and smiled. They both got under the covers and James turned his light off. Fluttershy stayed at one end of the bed and James stayed at the other.

"Goodnight Fluttershy." James said before closing his eyes.

"Goodnight James." She whispered back before letting out a sigh.

They both drifted off into a blissful sleep.

**Ryan's House- Night**

Ryan lay in his bed, looking up to his ceiling and deep in thought. He had managed to slip the girls into the guest bedroom for the night, as he remembered that his parents never went in there so they'd be safe. And, as he had for the entire day, Ryan kept thinking about Rainbow Dash, wondering how the next day would be for both of them as they were alone…with each other.

Ryan sighed as he knew that the chances of anything romantic happening were slim to none as Rainbow Dash most likely wanted a _colt_friend rather than a _boy_friend. It made Ryan somewhat depressed simply because she wasn't just a fictional character anymore, and yet he knew nothing could happen.

It was like having a bar of gold right in front of you that would pull away everytime you came within reach of it.

Ryan rolled onto his side and let out a sigh. He was about to go to sleep when he heard the door to his room creak open. He assumed that it was his mother to check up on him, so he let her do so as he pretended to be asleep.

But then he suddenly felt someone get onto his bed and slip under the covers next to him, pulling themselves close to him and wrapping their hooves around his waist.

Wait…._hooves_?

Ryan turned around to see Rainbow Dash looking at him with her sweet smile, "Hey I hope you don't mind if I sleep here for the night, Applejack's snoring is keeping me up." She giggled.

Ryan was frozen, unsure about what to say, when he nodded, "Yeah, okay, I can take the floor if you want."

"Actually I wanted you to sleep in the bed as well. I hope that's okay, I just like your company." She said with an innocent smile. Ryan just looked at her and nodded, "Okay, sure. That's…that's great." He smiled back at her and lay back into his bed.

He then felt her body press up against his own as she put her face right next to his ear and whispered, "You know I think you were really brave back at the mall."

"You did, really?" Ryan asked with a blush and Rainbow Dash nodded. Ryan chuckled, "Yeah, well, I was nowhere near as brave as you."

He looked directly into his eyes, which were about three inched away from his face. Now, he had tried to do this as little as possible since she'd been here so that his strange feelings wouldn't take over and make her find become too obvious. But now, he couldn't look away from her big, expressive, red eyes.

Simultaneously, her red eyes looked into his. They were half-closed, showing how comfortable she was, as well as how she was in love. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and let out a sigh, her warm breath touching Ryan's face and making his face turn red. "Do you know what I wish? I wish you were a Pegasus, so that we could fly together in the skies of Equestria."

Ryan smiled, "I wish that too."

At this moment, Ryan and Rainbow Dash both leaned into each other and kissed.

Now, let me make something very clear, Ryan had never had a girlfriend. He was very spiritual in that he not only wanted to wait until marriage before sex, but also he wanted to only date a girl that he truly loved.

The funny thing was; no girl in Wilmont came close to fitting the bill.

And now, he was having his first kiss with Rainbow Dash, something that many bronies could only dream of and he felt like his life was finally complete.

As their kiss deepened and became more invasive, with their tongues pushing against each other, Ryan felt different. He felt as if so much of his hard exterior that he had gained from growing up melted away, and he suddenly felt, _younger_.

He didn't know how or why, but all of his stress, anger, hatred, and other negative feelings evaporated and he was left in a state of pure bliss and happiness that most people never had a chanse to experience.

He felt less corrupt and more innocent than a teenage boy should feel, and he loved it. It was like Rainbow Dash's pure personality and love was radiating directly into Ryan. He didn't care that he couldn't understand it, all that mattered was that they loved each other.

As they broke the kiss, they looked at each other and smiled, both red in the face from slight embarrasment. But in this case, it was good embarrasment. Dash moved closer to Ryan so she was pressed up against him completely, her muzzle touching his nose.

"I love you Ryan."

"I love you too Dashie."

With that, both of them fell asleep in each other's arms, dreaming of flying with each other over Ponyville.

**Carl's House- Night**

Carl sat at his desk and stared blankly at the screen of his computer as he checked his newsfeed on Facebook, waiting for Pete to get back to him after he sent him a had a feeling that it would be a while before Pete got back to him, knowing about his shy personality.

_"You'd think he'd be partnered with Fluttershy."_ Carl thought with a chuckle as he continued to scroll down the comments feed to see if any of his friends had said anything that he could comment on.

Amazingly, he was already friends with Pete on Facebook and he never knew it. Then again, he was friends with 600 people, so naturally some of those were people he never met before.

Spike had made himself comfortable at the edge of Carl's bed as he looked up. Twilight was laying in Carl's bed, under his covers, talking with Spike. She was propped up with Carl's pillows.

"Wow, this world is so weird looking, I mean, it's so plain." Spike said and Twilight nodded.

"I agree, but it has its own charm."

"Not based on what the Princess told me." He said sadly.

"What was that?"

"She said how this world had a lot of good people in it, but that there was a lot of bad as well."

"Yeah, the Princess told me that too." Twilight muttered, just then remembering the story that Carl had promised to tell her.

Carl closed his laptop and walked over to his bed and looked at Twilight and Spike, "Okay, Pete didn't get back to me, but Alex and Louis are definitely going to be there." He slipped under his covers and was about to turn the light off when he felt Twilight tap him on the shoulder.

He turned to her and saw her sitting up, a serious look on her face.

"Tell me about your father."

**There it is. Wow, I can't beleive how long I'm making these chapters. But this is going to be a long story, so I guess longer chapters are a good thing.**

**I also hope I didn't butcher the kissing scene. Remember, that is as far as this story will go with that. And I'd like to thank all of the fanfictions that I've read that have inspired how this kissing scene played out.**

**Anyway, thank you for reading and, as always, feel free to leave a review, either positive or negative (without being too much of a jerk). **

**Go Giants!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Carl's Past and the Morning After**

**Yes! I managed to crank out another Chapter! I feel very accomplished….except now I have homework. **

**Yay.**

**Well, hopefuly you enjoy this Chapter as much as the others, even with how quickly I wrote it (I didn't know I could write 8,000 words in one day).**

**Well, enjoy. :)**

**Carl's Bedroom- Night**

Carl didn't know what to say to Twilight. As he looked at her, he could see the absolute desire that she had to learn more about Carl's past. Even Spike, who had only been here for a few hours, was now looking at Carl with interest. His own eyes as wide as a kid that is waiting to hear the meaning of life or some deep philosophical meaning.

He was nervous because no one ever asked him about his father except for James and Ryan, and even then, when they tried to get Carl to "let them in", he'd back out and keep silent, making up some bullshit answer that they'd buy just to leave him alone. But when he looked at Twilight, especially after what had happened earlier that day in the car, he realized that he couldn't lie to her. Her eyes weren't just two windows to her soul; they were daggers that were trying to get into Carl's soul to better understand him, and Carl wanted her to understand him.

He sighed and sat on the edge of his bed so he faced both Twilight and Spike.

"Carl," Twilight muttered, "I know it's bothering you, please tell me."

"Yeah man, we won't judge you or anything if that's what you're worried about." Spike said as he sat up, looking at Carl directly in the eye.

"I know you two won't judge me." Carl said with a sigh, "I just don't like talking about it."

Twilight moved closer to Carl and put her front hooves onto his legs and pushed herself up so that she was at eye-level with him. "Carl, I want to know what happened with your father."

Carl sighed and looked down for a second.

"It's been so long since I've talked about it," He muttered before looking back up at Twilight and Spike before continuing, "it happened when I was twelve…"

**FLASHBACK- 2007 **_**(Carl, Twilight and Spike's comments are in italics)**_

Inside Mr. Courtie's shop, a much younger Carl was busy sweeping up the floor before he got ready to leave for the day. He was in his employee uniform, which had not changed much over the course of five years from then to now. Next to him was an equally young James, who was working at the register and looking out of the window of the shop, wanting to get out so he could enjoy the day.

"…_it seemed like it was going to be the best summer of my life. My parents were working out some problems that they had in their relationship, I was working for Mr. Courtie in his magic shop, well…I mean, I was working with Bright Illusion."_

"_Oh yeah, my Uncle is here. I haven't seen him in a while." Twilight piped in._

"_I know that now," Carl said with a small chuckle, "but this was long before I knew that. Actually, I just found out about his relation to you today."_

"_That's right_,_ you went to go pick James up from his shop. How is he?"_

"_He's fineTwilight, and he misses seeing you. Now, where was I?"_

"Carl! James!" Mr. Courtie called from the back room.

Carl looked up with pure excitement. He placed the broom against the wall of the shop and ran back with pure excitement in his eyes. Meanwhile James just rolled his eyes and followed at a leisurely pace.

"_I loved working with him because the concept of magic had always appealed to me. Watching Mr. Courtie make the impossible happen right before our eyes made me so excited and happy."_

"_Y__ou sound like you were similiar to me." Twilight giggled._

"_I guess that's why I'm the Element of Magic."_

"What kind of cheap trick do you have to show us now Mr. Courtie?" James asked with his arms crossed as he had the same, disbelieving face that he often did now at the age of seventeen.

"James! It isn't a cheap trick. It's real." Carl said with excitement before turning to Mr. Courtie, "Right Mr. Courtie?"

Mr. Courtie smiled and gave a small nod.

"Right you are, Carl." He then proceeded to pull out a white cloth and a dead mouse, which he put onto its back on a small table in front of the two boys. The two boys recioled a bit at the sight of the dead rodent.

"Um, Mr. Courtie, why do you have a dead mouse?" James asked in disgust.

"My little assistant here," he pointed to the mouse, "is going to show you something simply _amazing_."

"_Mr. Courtie always had some amazing tricks up his sleeve…."_

"_Can you call him Bright Illusion Carl? Sorry I just keep forgetting it's my Uncle."_

_Carl chuckled, "Of course Twilight. Bright Illusion used to show us many amazing tricks."_

"Watch this." Mr. Courtie muttered as he put the white cloth onto the dead rodent. He put his hand over it and closed his eyes, "Soul of the deceased, do not go towards the light of death, return to the darkness of life. It is not your time."

A little blue aura came out of his hands and hit the cloth, but it was quick and fleeting, so the annoyed James didn't notice and Carl forgot about it quickly. Mr. Courtie slowly lifted the cloth to show a perfectly healthy, living mouse roll back onto its feet. Mr. Courtie picked it up and held it out for the two boys to see. Carl had a big smile on his face while James' jaw hung open.

"Wow!" Carl said excitedly, "how did you do that?"

"Magic." He said happily.

"T-that's not possible." James muttered in shock.

Mr. Courtie smiled back. "Anything is possible, James."

"Anything?" Carl asked.

"Anything." Mr. Courtie said happily.

"I still think you just knocked that rat out with some gas and woke it up."

"It's not a rat, James, it's a mouse." Mr. Courtie said with his smile.

"Whatever, it's a rodent, that's all that matters." James muttered as he picked up a small figurine and examined it as ifto show his lack of interest with Mr. Courtie's magic.

"Mr. Courtie, was it that phrase you said that made it happen?" Carl asked.

"Yes." Mr. Courtie said, even though it was a lie. He didn't want to lie to Carl but he had no choice, after all the Princess told him not to reveal himself as a unicorn to Carl until the time was right.

"_Of course now I know he really did bring that mouse back to life. What I didn't realize, however, was that he lied about the phrase being the reason. Obviously he always had magic as he was a unicorn, but I didn't know that, so I believed him and felt like I could bring something, or someone, back to life if I just said those magic words, "Soul of the deceased, do not go towards the light of death, return to the darkness of Earth. It is not your time"."_

_"For the next few days I practiced the spell with him until I was able to bring mice back to life. Of course, I'm now sure that he revived them with his own magic when I closed my eyes to say the chant. I actually thought I could bring the dead back to life." Carl narrated with a chuckle before proceeding._

"_Normally people find out about magic not being real just through maturity, but not me. I learned it in the worst way possible, it happened a few days later."_

Carl, Lisa, who was only four, and his parents were walking through the city after seeing a movie. The streets were almost empty and dark, the only light coming from the moon above and the street-lamps.

"Wow it's cold out." Lauren said as she gave a small shiver.

"It's upstate New York honey, what do you expect?" Carl's father chuckled.

"Yeah but it's still June, you'd think the weather would be warmer."

"Again, it's Upstate New York."

Carl was right beside him and Lisa was next to Lauren.

"Hey Dad, are you gonna make my soccer game tomorrow?" Carl asked happily.

His dad looked down at him and smiled, "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

"_I was so excited, you have no idea. He didn't go to a soccer game of mine in years, and to hear him say that he would be there meant so much to me. I had a great job, my parents were happy again after a year of arguing and a short-term separation. Then, in one moment, everything changed."_

After the four of them turned a corner, they saw five young men, looking around seventeen to twenty-one years old, dressed in black clothing with black headbands. They leaned against a building and joked around as the smoked cigarettes.

Now, even though Carl's family was not rich, they were rich in the eyes of people who lived in this part of town as they were extremely poor.

Once the leader of the gang saw them coming, he held up his hand to silence his men. He stepped forward towards the family before he took his cigarette from his mouth and flicked it to the ground.

"Fellas, are you lost?" he asked as he stopped about four feet in front of the family.

"No, we're fine." Carl's dad said as he tried to make his way by . The man just stepped into his path to stop him.

He looked down at Carl's father's watch with a smile and pointed to it, "That's a nice watch you've got there, would you mind giving it to me?"

Lauren looked nervously up at Carl's dad as Carl just stood there, confused.

"I'm sorry….t-this is my watch." Carl's father said. The man took a step closer to him and stood him down.

"You have nice clothes, a nice wife and kids, and you won't give me a little watch that probably cost you nothing?" he snarled, "Why do you need it, hm? To make sure you aren't late for your measly fucking job that probably pays way more than it should? Do you know why I need it? I need it for my rent. You just need it to look pretty."

"Well, I paid for it," He replied flatly, "so it is my watch. Now if you fellas will excuse us…"

That was when two of the other men took out their guns and pointed it at him. The last two men pointed their own guns at Lauren, Lisa and Carl. Laruen screamed in fear and the kids got back, eyes wide.

"Listen man," the leader said as he pulled his own gun out to point directly at Carl's dad, whose hands were now up and shaking in fear, "Don't be a hero, just give me the watch."

Carl's dad didn't need to be told again. He quickly took off the watch and handed it to the gunman. The gunman took it and grinned. "Great, now give me your wallet."

Once again, Carl's dad obliged and started to take the cash out when the man shook his head, "No, no, just give me the entire thing. You can afford a new wallet, I know you can you rich fuck."

Carl's dad sighed and handed his entire wallet to the man. Once the gang leader took it, Carl's dad took a step back, his hands still raised, "There' that's everything. Are you happy?"

"Not quite."

"What do you mean?"

The man turned to Lauren and smiled, "I want her to come with us."

Now Carl's father stopped shaking in fear and became furious.

"No." Carl's dad growled, "You won't touch her. You can take my watch and wallet, but you _won't_ lay a hand on my wife."

The man scowled and snapped his fingers. At this, moment, the two men who had their guns pointed at Carl's father began to walk towards Lauren, who was frozen in fear.

"_Those anarchists started walking towards my mother with their guns drawn when my father punched one and threw the other to the ground. He was about to knock out the second guy when a gunshot rang out and he collapsed to the ground, blood pooling around his body."_

"_He was shot, and we all saw it. Me, my mom, and my four-year old sister all saw our father lay on the ground dying, each breath he took was closer to being his last."_

After Carl's father was on the ground with two bullets in his chest, the five men ran off. Lauren screamed and knelt down to her husband's side. "Daniel! Daniel! Stay with us come on!"

"Dad!" Carl was on his father's other side.

Lisa was next to their mother, sobbing like any other four year old would in the same situation.

"_He was taken to the hospital a little while later and pronounced dead. When the doctor came out to tell us the news, Mom and Lisa sobbed like crazy and held onto each other like their lives depended on it. But I couldn't react, I was too shocked."_

"_Oh my gosh Carl, that's terrible!" Twilight gasped in horror, her eyes starting to get watery._

"_Why would anypony do something like that to somepony else?" Spike asked in shock._

"_If you stay here long enough you'll learn that instances of murder occur almost every night in Wilmont." Carl stated flatly before continuing with the story. "Anyway, we were all in the waiting room now and had so many terrible feelings flowed through us. My hands were so numb that I remember wringing them together to see if I could get feeling in them. I even bit my lip hard to make sure it wasn't a dream. But when I felt pain and tasted the blood, I knew it wasn't."_

"_But then I remembered Mr. Courtie and the white mouse from a few days before. I remembered the chant."_

In the hospital waiting room, the nurse came in and offered Carl, Lauren and Lisa the chance to see their father's body, so they all got up to go back to see him. As they walked towards the room, Carl kept thinking about how he could bring his father back, how he could revive him so he could go to his soccer game the next day. How he could revive him and their family could be whole again, something that it was going to be before that asshole shot him down like a dog.

As they entered the room, they saw Carl's father lying face-up in his bed, his eyes closed and his face dry and pale. They didn't cover his face with the sheet so that the family could see him one last time before the eventual funeral. Carl was the first one to walk over to his father's side as Dr. Bernstein, walked over to Lauren to discuss post-mortem things such as life insurance, etc. before he let her go to the bed to say good-bye to her husband.

Meanwhile, Carl went right to work. He closed his eyes and extended his hands above his father.

"_I knew it had to work, it just had to. People I knew have lost family, but I couldn't. It didn't feel like it could ever happen to me. But I knew that I could save him if I just did what I did with Bright Illusion to bring the mice back to life."_

Carl let out a sigh and muttered, "Soul of the deceased, do not go towards the light of death, return to the darkness of life. It is not your time."

He opened his eyes excitedly, only to see that his father was still dead.

He tried again, this time with a more shaky voice that mirrored his building desperation, "Soul of the deceased, do not go towards the light of death, return to the darkness of life. It is not your time." He opened his eyes and…nothing.

Dr. Bernstein finally saw what Carl was doing and walked over to him. He put his hand onto his shoulder, "Son, are you okay?"

Carl didn't listen, he was too focused on the task at hand, "Soul of the deceased, do not go towards the light of death, return to the darkness of life. It is not your time."

"Carl what are you doing?" Lauren asked through tears, "stop this nonsense and get over here."

Again, Carl said, "Soul of the deceased, do not go towards the light of death, return to the darkness of life. It is not your time."

Carl opened his eyes, once again, to see his father was dead. He shook his head as tears began to flow. His hands were now shaking and his face was red. "COME ON!" he shouted.

"Kid let's go." Dr. Bernstein said calmly as he started to pull a sobbing Carl away from the bed, but Carl pried himself lose and ran back, put his hands onto his father and shouted, "Soul of the deceased, do not go towards the light of death, return to the darkness of life. It is not your time! Come on Dad, please don't do this to me! DAD! DAD!"

Carl began to shake his father's corpse as Dr. Bernstein grabbed him and pulled him off. Carl was trying to get back to his father's side, but the doctor wouldn't let him.

"Carl, please stop this!" Lauren shouted as Lisa continued to cry. But Lauren was now crying harder than Lisa was.

Carl then gave up and fell to the floor, sobbing.

"Why….why…." Carl muttered as he set up and buried his face into his hands, crying more than he ever had in his life and, up to the present, ever had.

"_I didn't understand. My father didn't wake up. I did what Bright Illusion had taught me to do with the mice, but it didn't work. I felt a mix of sadness for losing my father, and anger that the man I worshipped had lied to me. That magic had let me down. So the next day I went into his shop to confront him."_

The next day, Carl walked into Mr. Courtie's shop with his eyes red from crying and his body still shaking. His legs were shaking as well, making him stumble a few times as he walked. He went past James, who was busy re-arranging the shelves. As he noticed Carl walk by, James called to him. But Carl didn't acknowledge his friend as he continued to the back room, like a man on a mission.

Mr. Courtie was reading an old book when Carl got into the back room. When he heard Carl, Mr. Courtie saw him and stopped reading, "Carl boy, what are you doing here? I thought you're mom said you wouldn't be here because of your father."

"Why did you lie to me?" Carl asked.

Mr. Courtie's expression became one of confusion, "What do you mean?"

"I tried that revival trick that you taught me to use on the mice and it didn't work." He hissed, "My father's still dead."

James walked to the back and stopped just outside of the room that Carl and Mr. Courtie were in, listening to the confrontation.

Mr. Courtie was frozen as he tried to come up with an excuse, "Well, Carl, you see mice are simpler beings than humans and…"

"STOP LYING TO ME!" Carl shouted, making Mr. Courtie jump back a bit. Carl began to cry more and he looked at Mr. Courtie with pleading, "Be honest with me….please…does magic exist? Can I do magic? Can _you_?"

"Carl of course."

"Then why didn't the magic work when I did it to my father? Can you revive my father?"

"Humans are too complex to revive Carl, I'm sorry."

Carl just shook his head and gulped, "Mr Courtie...how were you _really_ able to revive the mouse?"

Mr. Courtie was frozen, unsure about what to tell him. He couldn't say that he was a unicorn just yet because it wasn't opportune; Celestia wanted him to wait until Twilight arrived to him before this was even an issue. Besides, he didn't tell Carl, but he didn't have enough power to revive a being that was as complex has a human. So, still unsure about what to tell him, he just looked at Carl sadly.

Carl nodded in understanding and said flatly, "I don't ever want to see you again."

Carl stormed towards the exit of the store, when James stood in his way, "Carl, man what…"

"FUCK OFF!" Carl shouted as he pushed by his friend. Carl left the store with tears running down his face.

"_At that point in life, believe it or not, the worst word that I ever said was "crap", and that ended in my mouth being washed out with soap."_

**PRESENT DAY- Carl's Room**

"And that's why I stopped believing in magic."

Carl looked up at Twilight and Spike to see their reactions. Twilight eyes were on Carl, but tears were running down her cheeks Spike just seemed to be in shock, but Carl could tell he was upset too, just better at holding it back.

Twilight, however, just let the tears flow naturally and didn't try to hold anything back.

"Carl, I'm…I'm so sorry." She whispered.

"What are you sorry about?" Carl said with a re-assuring smile.

"I just feel bad that you had to go through all that. I wish you knew earlier, but it's just…only the most powerful unicorns to have the ability to revive animals, and those are only the smaller ones, which is why he could revive a mouse. My Uncle wasn't lying when he said he couldn't save your father."

Carl nodded, "I know. I was just so upset after he died that I couldn't hold back, even from Mr. Courtie…er I mean Bright Illusion."

Twilight quickly got up and ran over to Carl. She threw her arms around him in a hug. Carl returned the gesture as she cried into his shoulder, "Carl I'm sorry that our kind made you lose faith….I'm sorry."

"Twilight, please don't be sorry." Carl said, trying to hold his tears back.

Spike walked over as well, "Carl are you sure you're okay?"

He nodded, "Spike I appreciate your concern, but it's been five years. I've already shed most of my tears."

Spike nodded at him and patted his arm to give his own version of saying "_It's okay man, I'm here for you."_

After a few minutes, Twilight stopped crying and drew herself back, looking at Carl, who was smiling at her. He wiped the two tear-streaks off of her cheeks with his thumb.

"You know, you shouldn't cry so much, it clouds up your beautiful eyes." he whispered.

He suddenly realized what he just said and his mouth hung open. Twilight looked at him in confusion as Spike's jaw dropped to where it almost touched the mattress, in classic cartoon fashion.

"You….you think my eyes are beautiful?" she asked with a smile that showed how her mood was improving.

Carl nodded, "Uh-huh….excuse me." Carl got up and quickly walked out of the room towards the bathroom. Once inside, he shut the door.

Twilight giggled a bit, feeling better after Carl's compliment and knowing that he was embarrassed.

"What was that about?" Spike asked.

"Nothing, he's just a little shy." Twilight said, but she was smart enough to know that he was hiding feelings for her, and she wanted to talk to him more about it.

"_God, I feel like I'm going to be playing Carl's therapist." _She thought with a laugh.

Meanwhile, in the bathroom, Carl looked at himself in the mirror like Ryan had that morning after his dream about Rainbow Dash. His eyes were wide in fear and he was shaking.

"_What the hell is wrong with me?"_ he thought. He tried to think of other things that didn't have anything to do with Twilight, but he couldn't. Whenever he let his mind wander, the image of Twilight's eyes and face would appear and he would fantasize about her. He closed his eyes, _"Just stop, okay? You aren't Ryan; you aren't in love with a pony. You don't have romantic feelings for Twilight. Just let it go and deal with it tomorrow."_

Carl sighed and exited the bathroom.

**Pete's House- Morning**

Pete's alarm went off right beside his head as his eyes slowly opened. The rays of sunlight shone directly into his face, making him put his hand up in defense from being blinded. He slowly sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes. He got out of bed and walked over to his computer and logged into Facebook. While he was on, he noticed that someone had left him a message and decided to check it out.

_Pete,_

_Hello, my name is Carl. We bumped into each other at the mall yesterday before you ran into that prick Lawrence. Listen, I was wondering if you could meet at the mall tomorrow at around 11 for lunch, it's urgent._

Pete shook his head, _"Yeah, like I'm going out with you. I don't even know you."_

But then he got the last line of the message,

_Penelope is looking forward to seeing you there._

_Let me know as soon as possible. We need you, thanks_

_Carl Lewis_

Pete smiled, _"Penelope…."_ He thought dreamily before shaking his head.

"_No! You can't go there. Besides…" _he suddenly looked up into a small mirror on his desk, _"you know that you'd say something stupid and ruin any chance to even be friends with her."_

Pete turned his computer off and slowly made his way downstairs. He ate with his parents, the only people that he felt comfortable talking to, and then went back upstairs to surf the web, alone.

But his mind kept going back to the invitation to the mall, and how he hadn't been invited by anyone to anything in years. Not to mention Carl made it sound vital that he be there. Pete decided to think about going, but his nervous, overanalyzing mind continued to yell at him to not do so.

Besides, he knew that if he went, he would just be a wall-flower and not say anything, for fear of saying something that was stupid, or unfunny. And if it was funny, it would be because it was so _un-_funny.

**Ryan's House- Morning**

As the sun broke into Ryan's room, Ryan began to wake up. Once he came to, he noticed the rainbow-maned mare pressed up against him and remembered what happened the night before. He smiled at her and leaned in to her face, which was almost touching his own, and kissed her cheek.

She groaned and slowly opened her eyes to see Ryan smiling back at her. She gave him a small smirk back, "Hi Ryan." She giggled, "That was an interesting way to wake me up."

"Sorry, I couldn't help it."

Rainbow Dash smiled back and leaned in to kiss Ryan on the lips like they did night before.

Ryan was just thankful that this had been the one day where his parents decided not to come into his room to say good-bye to him before they left for work.

But this thought was quick and fleeting, as Ryan and Rainbow Dash continued to kiss and hold to each other closely as if they had been in a relationship for more than one night. As they broke the kiss again, Rainbow Dash looked at Ryan with "bedroom-eyes' and a dreamy smile.

"You know, I wasn't kidding when I said I wish that I could fly with you." She said as her head lay against the pillow.

"And I wasn't kidding that I wish I could be a Pegasus for you, Dashie…oh, I hope you don't mind me calling you that."

Rainbow Dash giggled and shook her head, "Of course not. You know, you don't have to worry about everything so much Ryan."

Ryan sighed, "I know, but I'm just surprised you're into me, I mean, you're so cool and awesome and, well, I didn't think somepony like you could like someone like me."

"Just because you don't think you're cool or awesome doesn't mean you aren't. You just don't have confidence in yourself." She said before moving closer to Ryan to now their noses were pressing against each other. "And I'm gonna help you build up your self-esteem."

"The fact that you told me that you love me last night was enough to raise my self-esteem ten-fold." Ryan muttered as he kissed her again.

As they separated Ryan sat up, "Come on, I'll get you and AJ some breakfast."

Rainbow Dash smiled and let out a big yawn before she got out of bed as well. Ryan walked down the hall to the guest room and knocked, "Yo AJ, are you awake?"

He heard her loud snoring on the other end, _"Geez Rainbow Dash wasn't kidding."_

Suddenly, Applejack let out a groan, "Ugh, come back later."

Ryan knocked again, "AJ come on, get up."

"Give me a few more minutes."

Ryan rolled his eyes and let himself in before walking over to the side of the bed that Applejack was sleeping on. She looked at Ryan with tired eyes before she shut them tight and growled, "Come on Ryan, do ya have to wake me up now?"

"Yes, actually, because you're supposed to go to the mall with the others, remember?"

Her eyes shot open and she quickly sat up, "Aw dang, I forgot!" she quickly threw the covers off and started out.

"Wait, Applejack!"

Applejack stopped and turned around to look at Ryan, who was holding her hat. She put her hoof to her head and realized that she did, in fact, forget to put her hat on.

"He-he, wow, my brain is all over the place today. Thank ya Ryan."

She reached for it and Ryan pulled it back out of her reach. She looked up at him and he glared down at her. "You told Rainbow Dash about my crush on her, didn't you AJ?"

Applejack turned red and looked away, "Ah'm sorry Ryan, it's just that Rainbow Dash was so upset and she wanted to know and I couldn't lie to her…"

Ryan smiled and got down and hugged Applejack. Her eyes went wide at this act of friendship that Ryan had done. After he broke the hug he looked at her shocked face and gave her a thankful smile.

"Thank you for breaking your promise." Ryan said.

Applejack looked at Ryan quizzically and answered in an uneasy tone, "Anytime."

After that, the two went downstairs to see that Rainbow Dash had already gotten three bowls and some side-plates out and put them onto the table.

"Geez Dashie, how did you know where my plates were?"

"I remembered where you got them yesterday and, well, I don't think you should have to do _everything_ for us, I mean, its kind enough that you're letting us crash here."

Ryan smiled and walked over to Rainbow Dash and kissed her. "You just made this kitchen at least twenty-percent cooler."

Rainbow Dash blushed at his refernece to her saying, "He-he, thanks Ryan."

Applejack's mouth dropped, "Did….did sumthin' happen last night?"

Rainbow Dash giggled, "Perhaps."

"Oh, did ya tell each other how ya felt?"

"Yeah," Ryan said as he kissed Rainbow Dash one more time on the cheek before going to the pantry to grab some cereal, "hey, do you ponies drink milk or not? Because I think I remember hearing from somewhere that you are complete vegans." he asked.

"Yeah we drink milk." Rainbow Dash said as Applejack took the seat next to her. Rainbow Dash turned to Applejack and giggled like a school-girl who had a crush, and Applejack giggled as well.

"Okay! I'll just get some cereal then."

"That's great sugarcube." Applejack shouted back as she turned to Rainbow Dash, "So what exactly happened?"

"I just got into bed with him and we said that we loved each other."

"Is that it?" Applejack asked with an eyebrow raised.

"No, we did make out." She said with a smile.

"Good goin' there RD."

Applejack and Rainbow Dash then gave what the brony community would dub a "bro-hoof" when Ryan came back with a box of cereal. They put their hooves down and faced Ryan with two, big grins. Ryan noticed this and smiled.

"What were you girls talking about?"

"Nothing." They both said in unison before laughing.

Ryan smiled and joined in the laughter, _"Today should be interesting."_

**James' House- Morning**

Meanwhile, at James' house, James and Fluttershy were eating breakfast together, which consisted of toast and some juice. They talked a bit with each other, which made James proud of himself for bringing Fluttershy out of her shell.

"So you're a vegan?" she asked with a smile.

James shook his head, "No, not quite. I do eat meat, just a limited amount. I hate how meat plants treat animals that they use for meat, so I try to limit my intake. I hope the fact that I eat meat doesn't frighten you." he said, knowing that it did frighten the ponies in many fanfictions.

"I don't," she said as he took another bite of her toast, "I work with all sorts of animals, and many are carnivores and omnivores."

"Like bears that you beat the crap out of to give a massage?" James asked with a chuckle.

Fluttershy gave him a confused look, "What do you mean?"

"I….uh… forget it, it's just a joke based on something from the show."

"Oh." She said, "Wait, didn't you say I was your favorite?"

James nodded, "Yep."

"Really?" she asked, seeming like she didn't believe him. James nodded.

"Yeah, you were. Why are you so unsure about it?"

"Well I just…I don't know why somepony would think I was more interesting than Rainbow Dash or Twilight or Rarity or anypony else."

James smiled and put his hand onto her hoof reassuringly, "Look, each of you six have bronys that think you're the best. I think you're the best, some people like Twilight the best, and some like Rainbow Dash, it varies."

"Then what is it about me makes me your favorite?"

"Because you're cute, kind, great with animals…" James started, but he stopped when he noticed her blushing and looking down, embarrassed at the praise he was giving her, "…Fluttershy you don't have to be embarrassed about this, these compliments are all true."

She looked up at him with her blue eyes and smiled, "I know, it's just nopony has ever said that about me before and..."

James didn't listen to what she was saying, he was too lost in her eyes, just like Ryan was with Rainbow Dash and Carl was with Twilight.

"James?" Fluttershy asked as she noticed Carl's zoning out.

He shook his head and looked around nervously, "Huh? Sorry, Fluttershy I didn't hear what you just said."

"Oh, that's okay. I was probably just being boring; I'll try to be more exciting when I talk."

"No, Fluttershy you're fine. It was my fault, I was rude and I apologize for it." James said. He looked down at his food and began to eat. He looked at his watch, "Carl should be here soon. I should clean up."

"Let me help you."

James looked at her and shook his head, "Oh no, I couldn't possibly accept your help."

"But I want to." She said happily before taking one of the dishes and flying over to the sink.

James was amazed at how polite she was, which was incredible because he already knew that she was extremely polite. He brought over the rest of the plates and began to wash them off next to her.

"I also like you because of my cousin." He muttered.

Fluttershy stopped washing and turned to him. "Your cousin?"

"She's your biggest fan. In fact, she's the reason that I got into the show."

"How old is she?"

"Twelve." He muttered, "Honestly, watching your show is one of the only bright spots in her life."

"Oh my, what's wrong?" she asked with pure worry as her hooves went to her mouth, as one's hand would cover one's mouth when gasping.

"She has…wait, does Equestria have cancer?" Fluttershy shook her head and James sighed, "You ponies are lucky, it's one of the worst diseases someone could have."

"Oh no! How bad is it?"

"Well, if it gets worse, she could…" James shut his eyes and gulped, "…she could die."

Fluttershy's eyes grew to an even bigger size than they were, and that's saying something.

"No! Oh that poor girl! You've got to let me do something for her."

"Fluttershy, you don't need…"

"But I want to help."

James was about to protest when he stopped and thought for a second. He then turned to her with a small smile, "Actually, there is something you can do for her."

Just then the horn of Carl's car came from outside and James sighed, "But not now, first let's get to this mall."

Fluttershy nodded and flew off towards the door. James smiled, _"Caroline, I hope you like what I'm going to do for you."_

James then turned the sink off, dried his hands and ran off to Carl and the others. He was about to go outside when he stopped, _"Shit, my watch."_

He ran upstairs and into his room and began to look for his black watch.

"_Shit, where is it?"_ he thought as he heard a car horn beep.

"I'LL BE RIGHT DOWN!" he shouted as he continued to look. Suddenly he remembered something, _"Oh, that's right. Patrick borrowed it for his date Tuesday…and I let him. What's wrong with me, I shouldn't let that douchebag borrow any of my things. Wait, why am I thinking so much when I have people waiting for me?"_ He exited his room and ran into Patrick's. Once he got into it, he began to frantically look around until he found his watch on Patrick's desk.

"_Hah! Got you, you bastard."_ He grabbed it and put it onto his left wrist. He was about to head out when something caught his eye in the drawer of Patrick's desk. It looked like it was some sort of green plant in a zip-lock bag. He opened the drawer and pulled out the bag and his jaw dropped.

There, in his "perfect" brother's desk, was a bag full of cannabis.

"Holy fuck." He muttered as he examined it in amazement. He couldn't believe that his brother would be involved in drugs; after all he was always the "good" son. But this wasn't just a little bit of pot, it was a LOT of pot. Like, for more than one person.

"JAMES!" Carl shouted from downstairs. James snapped out of his shock and put the bag back into the drawer. He walked out of the room, head reeling at what he just saw.

After all, this wasn't a small amount of weed; this was an amount that could classify Patrick as a dealer. James wanted to tell his parents so badly, he did, but then he realized two things. One, that he was no better with his drug and alcohol use, even thouh he wouldn't ever deal it. And two, it wouldn't do anything to improve his parent's attitude towards him. They'd find excuses for Patrick and blame James for snooping around his room. Once James reached the bottom step, he hopped down and walked past a very annoyed looking Carl who was waiting for him just outside.

"What took you so long?"

"Sorry, I needed my watch." James said, pointing to his wrist.

"Okay then, get out there. We need to get to the mall. It's almost eleven."

James nodded and headed out, still thinking about his brother and the pot.

"_Well this certainly is an interesting revelation."_ He thought as he got into the car.

Now, Carl was stressed out for multiple reasons. First off, he was hoping that Ryan would be safe. Second, he was hoping _they_ would be safe. Then, he hoped that they were meeting the three correct people and wouldn't have to keep going on a wild goose chase to find the other elements.

And, finally, he hoped that his feelings towards Twilight would disappear.

Little did he know, however, that those feelings had just begun.

**Forest behind Ryan's House**

"Come on Ryan, where are we going?"

"Hang on, it's just up ahead."

Ryan pointed to a large tree that was in the center of the woods. Rainbow Dash flew up it and stopped. She put her hooves to her mouth and let out a happy gasp "Oh my gosh, is that a tree house?" she asked.

Ryan chucked at her cute gasp. "Yep, go on up, I'll be there in a minute, just as soon as I find the…"

Rainbow Dash didn't give him a chance to look; she swooped down and, with surprising strength, lifted Ryan off of the ground and brought him into the tree house. She put him down onto the floor of it as he looked at her in awe.

She chuckled, "Didn't expect me to be that strong, did you Ryan?"

Ryan shook his head and she chuckled before looking around at the run-down, old tree house. It was pretty small, much smaller than the one that the CMC had, and much more run-down. In fact, it looked more like the CMC's clubhouse _before_ it was fixed up.

Of course, to Rainbow Dash, the more run down it was, the more badass it looked.

"Wow, this place is so cool." She said.

"He-he, this is nothing, you should have seen it when it was in its glory days."

Rainbow Dash turned to him and smiled. Ryan knelt down and they began to kiss some, enjoying their time alone with each other. With each moment that their mouths were pressed against each other, Ryan began to feel more and more innocent, as he did the night before. He couldn't understand it, but he really didn't want to. All that mattered was that he was with the girl that he loved, and he would never let anything take that away from him. As they continued to kiss, Rainbow Dash caught site of something on the far wall and she broke the kiss.

"Ryan, what's that?" she asked, pointing her hoof to the wall.

He turned to look where she was pointing to see the engracing. He got up and walked over to it. When he got there, his eyes lay on two names that were carved into the wall, _This Is the Fort of Ryan and Laurie, all who enter will perish._

His eyes went wide, "No way. I can't believe that this still here."

"Who's Laurie?" Rainbow Dash asked. Ryan shut his eyes and gulped,

"He's no one Dashie."

He tried to stand up but she put her hoof onto his shoulder, "Can you tell me? I can see pain in your eyes." Ryan gulped nervously and a tear fell from his eye.

"He…he is a friend of mine." he muttered, "well, _was_ a friend of mine."

"What happened?" she asked with her eyes wide.

Ryan looked down at the floor of the tree house. Rainbow Dash looked at Ryan and turned his head to hers before looking deep into his eyes, "You can tell me anything, don't be afraid."

"I just…the story makes me upset to talk about...because it reminds me of when I lost my faith in loy…" he stopped himself from finishing the statement, but Rainbow Dash leaned closer to him and finished it herself.

"Loyalty?" she asked and Ryan nodded. Rainbow Dash then kissed Ryan on the forehead to comfort him, "it's okay. I'm here with you now, and won't ever betray you. I want to hear your story and I'll be here to comfort you if it become too much for you."

Ryan smiled and looked up at her, "Thanks Dashie, you're the best friend that I could ask for." Rainbow Dash smiled ands they kissed one more time before Ryan continued, "…but I have to warn you, this story is pretty emotional."

Rainbow Dash nodded, "I understand, but I still want to hear it."

Ryan sighed, "Dashie, I'm going to tell you the story behind me…and Lawrence. The jerk you slammed into at the mall yesterday. He wasn't always my tormentor, hell he wasn't always a bully."

Ryan sighed, "He was my best friend."

**Yes, I am doing this again. Now, do NOT expect another Chapter tomorrow. I just got lucky today with tim and was able to get this done. **

**Anyway. thanks for reading and please review if you'd like. **

**Go Giants! Go Rainbow Dash! (yes she is my favorite)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Painful Memories and A Hopeful Future**

**Yes, I know that this chapter's title is pretentious, but whatever.**

**Just so people know, a lot of the inspiration for this story is from other fanfiction that I've read. One in particular is "My Second Life" by Coal Buck on fimfiction, which I owe a lot to in regards to how to write Applejack's dialogue. Also, that story came up with the idea of someone slipping into a southern accent when he hears one before I did (Alex's habit is based on this) Just wanted to make sure credit was given where it was due.**

**And I really suggest the story, it's very good.**

**Also thank you to all of you readers out there, I was shocked to see how many people read this story on Saturday and Sunday.**

**I hope the whole human projection thing for the mane six isn't too confusing for you guys.**

**Anyway, here's Chapter 6 and, as usual, I only own my OC Characters.**

**Tree House- 2005 (narration in italics)**

The sun was shining brightly down onto the tree house that, Rainbow Dash and Ryan were presently in. But this was 2005, seven years ago, and at that time, there was a much younger, ten-year old Ryan sitting in the open doorway looking out over the treetops as the sun began to dip down for the night. He leaned his head against the door frame and let out a sigh. He then felt someone tap him on his shoulder.

He turned around to see a ten-year old Lawrence standing behind him. He looked nothing like he did today. His eyes were bright and innocent; his stature was thin and weaker. He didn't look like he could ever hurt a fly, much less his best friend, at any point during his life.

"Hey man, what are you doing?" Lawrence, or Laurie, as Ryan called him, asked his best friend at the time, and his future bullying victim.

"Oh, nothing man. I was just looking out at the sunset." Ryan said in a distant manner, like his mind was miles away.

Laurie chuckled, "Dude, that's so gay."

"Whatever, I think it's amazing."

Laurie shrugs, "Whatever you say Ryan…hey, watch this!" Laurie gargled and spat out of the door. Ryan looked back at him in disgust.

"Dude, that's gross."

Laurie laughed and shook his head, "Man, you need to start doing some more guy like things and stop admiring the sunset like some chick."

"I can't help it; I'm a romantic like that." Ryan muttered. Laurie sat next to him. "I'm always looking for something more."

"What more is there Ryan, you're parents are rich. You can get things that most people could only dream of."

"I'm always looking for something special that isn't possible in this reality. I always dream about things I read about or watch on television, characters that don't exist in this world and go on adventures. When I wake up it all fades and I'm have the realization that I am stuck in the confines of reality. I wish life could be that simple and exciting."

Laurie broke out into laugher, "I don't understand you sometimes, man. You're such a dreamer."

The two laughed and walked back into the tree house, where they fist-bumped.

"Bros for life?" Laurie asked.

"Bros for life." Ryan responded with a chuckle. Laurie smiled and walked out of the open door of the tree house and got onto the ladder to climb down, "I'll talk to you later, man!"

He climbed down and left Ryan watching as he disappeared. Ryan then stood up, turned, and walked over to one of the tree house's windows and looked out at the sun as it dipped behind the clouds.

**PRESENT- Ryan's Tree House**

"Ha-ha, you seriously got grossed out because Laurie spit?" Rainbow Dash said laughing like crazy, "and I'm your favorite? Clearly you haven't seen what Applejack and I do when we make a bet."

"Oh no, I have." Ryan said with a smile, "You spit into your hoof and do…well; to us it would either be a fist-bump or hand-shake."

"It didn't gross you out when I did it?" she asked him.

"No when you did it, it was cute." At this, Rainbow Dash blushed and gave Ryan a smile. Ryan continued, "I think it's because I like badass girls who aren't cookie-cutter stereotypes of _shopping_ this, and _sparkly vampires_ that."

"Like me?"

"Exactly like you."

Rainbow Dash smiled at Ryan in appreciation for his compliment. "So what happened between you and Laurie?"

Ryan sighed and looked at her, "It was a few months later, the week before school started. His parents learned that I was the son of two wealthy parents that lived in Leigh Heights, which is our neighborhood, the richest in town. Needless to say a big union man like him wasn't happy about it."

**Lawrence's House- 2005**

Lawrence was sitting at his dining room table with his father and mother. His mother was drinking some coffee, while his father was wearing his white work t-shirt that was caked in mud from the construction site that he worked at, and a pair of torn-up jeans.

"I told you to stay out of Leigh Heights Lawrence! That's where the rich bastards live, and you are to never speak to them."

"But-" Lawrence started, but he was cut off by his father as he raised his hand to silence him.

"You are never to ever go to that boy's house ever again; unless you go to teach him a thing of two about the shit that us working class people go through each time people like his parents fire us." He leaned towards Lawrence with an angry eye, "As long as he's rich, you stay away. Got it?"

Lawrence opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when he saw the unyielding resilience in his father's eyes. He somberly looked down at the ground, "Got it."

"_To them, all of the rich people in town were evil and I was nothing more than their spawn."_

**Present Day- Tree House **

"What kind of thinking is that?" Rainbow Dash asked confused. "Hating a group of people just because of a few bad seeds?"

"Welcome to humanity Dashie." Ryan laughed a bit before he continued, "That thinking is what we learn in the media. There are evil rich people that exit, no question, like Bernie Madoff and many of the people on Wall-Street. Even animated shows always have the rich portrayed as scumbags. But, because the media never shows good rich people unless it fits their agenda, people think all rich people are heartless bastards who step on the lower and middle class. To make matters worse, Lawrence's Dad was one of the hundreds laid off by the local soda factory the year before, which is why he was working at a construction site at the time. After he got fired, he detested the rich so much that if your salary was a penny higher than his, you were a greedy ass-hole."

"So he told Laurie to stop seeing you?"

Ryan nodded.

**First Day of School- 2005**

Ryan was at his locker, pushing up on the latch to try and get it open, but it wouldn't budge.

"_Stupid piece of garbage locker."_

As he pushed up harder and harder, the locker finally opened all the way. Ryan sighed in relief and began to put his school-books into his bag. Suddenly, he saw Lawrence walking by him. Ryan waved, but Lawrence just looked at him and then looked away with sadness in his eyes. Ryan looked emotionally hurt.

"_I thought maybe he was just in a bad mood, but every time I tried to speak with him that week, he ignored me. Finally, the next Monday, I confronted him at his locker."_

Lawrence was putting his books back into his locker. He slammed it shut it and turned to leave when he saw that Ryan was in his way, looking at him with inquisitive eyes.

"Laurie, why aren't you talking to me?"

Lawrence looked away and tried to get by, but Ryan stopped him, "Laurie stop."

"My Dad doesn't want me to talk to you anymore."

"What?" Ryan asked, "but; why?"

"Because your parents are rich and my parents hate the rich."

Ryan was frozen in place, unsure about what to say.

"Laurie, come on, you can't honestly listen to that."

"Ryan I still want to be friends too." Lawrence said with desperation.

"Great, then, let's be friends."

Lawrence smiled, "Okay! Just tell your parents to stop making so much money and it'll work!"

Ryan was smiling up to this point. Suddenly, his expression fell. "Y-you want me to tell my parents to make _less_ money?"

"Yeah, they make more than enough. Do they really need all of that money, I mean, you're their only son."

"Laurie, they earned their money," Ryan muttered, "I know that your father has bad experiences with the rich business owners of Wilmont, but I'm not going to tell my parents to make less money. I can't believe you'd even suggest such a thing. Besides, it's not like they'd make less just because you said so."

"I get it," Lawrence said angrily, "You'd rather have the chance to get a BMW when you get your license or stay in that house that makes mine look like a shack than be my friend."

"Laurie, I still want to be your friend! It just isn't right of you to ask my parents to earn less just to please your father."

"You disappointed me Ryan." Lawrence said as some tears began to fall, "You've let the rich claim you."

"Lawrence, where are you getting this anti-rich bullshit from? Did your father brainwash you over the past week or something."

"No he enlightened me," Lawrence said, pointing a finger at Ryan, "and everything that he's told me has shown that all the rich care about is money. They don't care who they hurt, and you've proven that. You're no different than the rest of them."

"Laurie you've lost your mind."

Lawrence grabbed Ryan by the shirt and shoved him into the wall of lockers, making people look at him. Ryan was frightened out of his mind, and Lawrence just stared him down with extreme hatred.

"Watch your back you spoiled prick."" He growled before storming off. Ryan was left shaking as he slipped to the ground, tears pouring down his cheeks.

"_At that moment, I knew the "bros for life" saying we had was no longer valid, society made sure of that."_

**Present Day- Tree House**

"Then how did he become your bully?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Ryan looked down and back up at Rainbow Dash, who had the most concerned look in her eyes, _"God I love her so much."_ He thought before snapping out of it and getting back on-topic.

"Throughout that year he began to adopt more and more of his parent's beliefs. Soon he hated the rich so much that joined one of Wilmont's many anarchist gangs. He also began to target me, and the other kids he felt were part of the upper class."

"Wow, I can't believe that much envy exists here." Rainbow Dash said in shock.

"Welcome to our world." Ryan said with a smile before walking over to the window to look at the sun. He sat down much like he did seven years ago to watch the birds flying high above the sky. Rainbow Dash sat next to him and put her head onto his shoulder.

"I actually had mixed feelings towards the show; your show"

"But…but I thought you liked it."

"Oh no, don't get me wrong I loved the show, it was so relaxing and fun." Ryan said before letting out a deep sigh. He reached over and began to stroke her mane, "but every time I watched it, I got depressed. I would see you and your friends on my computer screen and, I'd be mad that you weren't real, especially you, Dashie. That you were just products of an artist's imagination, and…_this_ would never be possible. Kind of like one of the characters in a fanfiction that I read before ("My Little Dashie" in case you're wondering). You represented loyalty, and, seeing how faithful you are to your friends made me wish that your kind of loyalty would exist here, even though I felt like it was impossible after Lawrence turned against me. " Ryan said as he continued to watch the trees outside as some wind gusts blew by, holding back as many tears as he could. Rainbow Dash nuzzled her head into his shoulder.

"Well, now you have me, and I'll always be here for you." She said with a smile and Ryan looked back at her. He wiped away a tear at that.

"Ï know you will be Dashie."

**Mall- Day**

"Come on, where are they?" Alex groaned as he let his head flop onto the table as he and Louis waited in the mall food court for the others to arrive. Alex lifted his head and looked in the metal napkin dispenser to see his reflection, which shows red bruises all over his face from the night before.

Louis, meanwhile, was wearing his backwards cap, his eyes were red and glazed over, and his long, messy hair sticking out every-which way.

"Dude...are you an alien?" Louis asked.

Alex looked at him and raised an eyebrow, "Um…I'm sorry, _what_?"

"Like, you look like an alien, man. Are…are ya gonna probe me, because…because that would hurt…and I don't swing that way." Louis said before coughing a bit.

"How high are you?" Alex asked and Louis smiled.

"Like a fucking plane."

Alex let his face hit the table in annoyance, _"Great, now I'm stuck with the fucking stereotypical stoner. Great, just great. James and Carl better have a good reason for dragging me out here like this. Ah mean, Jesus Christ…..why did I just think with my southern accent? Stop it Alex, you're in New York now, not Texas and…"_

"ÄLEX!"

Alex snapped out of his deep thinking and looked up to see Carl, James and four of the "girls" from yesterday, Raquel, Tara, Penelope, some girl with pink hair and a timid face and…._Anna_.

Alex began to blush as he saw the pretty southern girl with the cowboy hat standing in front of him. His stomach suddenly got tight in nervousness, especially because "Anna" smiled at him and walked over to the seat next to him and pointed at it.

"Is this here seat taken?"

"N-no, go right ahead." Alex said with a blush.

"Thank ya kindly Alex." She sat down next to him.

"Anytime Anna." Alex said with a smile and with a tone that sounded like he had just met the girl of his fantasies.

Meanwhile, Penelope looked like she was pouting, "Hey! Why isn't Pete here?"

"He's probably running late, wait, not all of us can sit at this table." James said, realizing that the table could only sit four people, six at most if two other chairs were brought over from another table.

"James, you can take Flu…er…I mean _Thelma_, and Penelope over to that table. Me, Raquel, Tara and Anna will sit here.

James nodded walked over to a nearby table with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie.

"Why is your fake name Thelma?" he whispered to Fluttershy as she managed to get into the seat, sitting like a pony would (minus Lyra).

"I'm not sure, Ryan gave me that name."

"I thought he did ha-ha, Ryan and his movie obsession." James chuckled a bit to himself before he sat down.

"I wish Pete was here." Pinkie said before slouching in her chair with her pout.

"Pinkie, don't worry. He still might show up, just give him time."

Pinkie perked up at this and sat back up in her chair with a smile, "Okay James!"

"Great, listen I'll go get some salads for us. I'll be right back." James got up and left.

Later on, back at the table with Alex, Carl, Twilight, Rarity, Applejack and Louis, the group was talking and eating some salad they also had gotten. And it was clear to Carl that there were some problems.

First off, Alex and Applejack were flirting with each other in the most obvious way. Alex began to talk about how he remembered living on a farm in Texas until he was eleven, when he moved up to New York. He also brought up how he forced himself to lose the accent, which Applejack didn't really like, as she wished that he kept his accent so she could hear it. Applejack also wanted him to talk to her about his life in the country, as she was enjoying how much they were alike and both from life farm-life.

Now, the opposite scenario was happening with Rarity and Louis, as the ganja in his system made Rarity's lunch a living hell.

"You know, you sort of look like a girl I banged once."

Rarity's mouth hung open in shock. "I beg your pardon!" she exclaimed, taken aback by Louis' crudeness.

"Yeah, she had the same slutty lips as you. Maybe you can use 'em the same way?"

Rarity gasped in anger, "Well, I've never seen such boorish behavior from anypony before!"

"Did you just say "anypony"?" Alex asked, looking at her with confusion.

"Oh, n-no I said _anybody_." She corrected frantically. Alex nodded in some skepticism before turning his attention back to Applejack.

Twilight decided that it was time to check the two boys out to see if they were the elements that they were looking for. So she first walked over to Alex, who was back to flirting with Applejack.

"Hey Alex, would you mind holding still for a minute?" Twilight asked.

"Huh?" Alex said, too entranced by Applejack's eyes that he didn't hear her. "Yeah, sure Tara, what is it?"

Twilight leaned her head forward and closed her eyes, but just before she could touch Alex's chest, Applejack pushed her away.

"Uh, _Tara_, what do ya think yer doin'?"

"I'm trying to see if Alex here is important for our cause, _Anna_." Twilight hissed through her teeth.

Applejack glared at Twilight with an "_I'm watching you"_ look before Twilight rolled her eyes and put her forehead into Alex's chest.

"Tara um…..okay?"

Twilight backed up, turned to Applejack with a smile, and gave her an approving nod. After Twilight made her way over to Louis, Applejack grinned and leaned towards Alex who put his arm around her and gave her a kind smile with a flirtatious look.

Applejack then started to eat some of her salad.

Now Carl was concerned, _"Jesus Christ, what's going on? I mean, first Ryan, now Alex? Not to mention me."_ Carl's eyes widened at that thought and shook his head, _"No, don't think like that. You don't have a thing for Twilight, you don't."_

Now, after Twilight lifted her head away from Louis, who was so out of it at this point that he didn't budge even with Twilight's head on his chest, she turned to Rarity and sighed. She then shook her head and, not too surprisingly, Rarity's eyes glowed and she gasped, "Oh thank you Celestia." Before slumping back into the chair with a sigh, her forelegs (or arms to Louis and Alex) outreached over the sides as if she was resting after she had just run a marathon. She was just so happy not to be paired with this loser.

"Raquel, are you all right you seem…" Alex started when he heard someone burp next to him. He turned to see Applejack covering her mouth and blushing like mad. Normally she wouldn't really care, after all she never was the "girly-girl" type, but because she burped in front of Alex, who she was trying to impress, she was mortified.

Twilight smacked her hoof to her head just next to her horn, and thought, _"Ugh, really Applejack?"_

Carl's mouth hung open and Louis began to laugh like he'd just come out of a room full of nitrous oxide…or he was stoned out of his mind, which was the truth.

"Anna, how rude!" Rarity said.

"Ah…ah'm sorry." She said, looking away from Alex. She pulled her hat down over her eyes to avoid looking at him, knowing that he was probably grossed out by her now and she blew her chance to be with him.

But to her surprise Alex, who was never the passive type, pushed her hat up away from her eyes and smiled at her, "You don't have to be embarrassed Anna; I actually like gals that aren't always so focused on being "proper"." He said with a smile, and Applejack looked away to hide her blush.

Carl sighed and thought, _"Okay, we human elements are a bizarre group of individuals; that much is clear."_

"Gee, thank ya Alex." Applejack said, looking up at him with a thankful smile.

"You know," Alex said leaning back, "you remind me of someone."

"Really, who?"

Alex looked from side to side before leaning in to whisper, "What do the names Flim and Flam mean to you?"

Applejack ground here teeth, "Ah hate those good fer nothing…."

Her eyes widened and she covered her mouth, realizing what she just said. When she saw Alex's cocky smile, she knew that he had found out who she was.

"You're name isn't really Anna, is it?" he asked her quietly with a smile.

Applejack sighed and shook her head.

"I think we need to talk." Alex whispered, standing up and turning to the others, "will you guys and gals excuse us, me and Anna need to have a quick word in private."

Applejack sighed and followed Alex towards the carousel. Carl watched them go and turned to Twilight, "What was that all about?"

Twilight sighed, "Your friend is too smart."

Alex and Applejack were behind the carousel when he turned to her, "You know, I probably shouldn't have found out that you were Applejack, considering how this shouldn't be in the realm of possibility."

"How did ya know?" Applejack asked.

"Because you may look different, but your personality is still the same as it always is. Kind, strong-willed, and even if you're a human right now, I can tell who you are just by looking into those beautiful, green eyes. "

Applejack blushed and smiled, "Aw yer too kind Alex."

"So why you're here, and why you're a human."

"First off, ah ain't human, I'm just projected as one in yer mind. Second, it's a long story."

Alex smiled back at her before he kissed her. Unlike everyone else, even Ryan, Alex didn't really have any problems in falling for Applejack, regardless if she was a cartoon pony or not, and regardless of what others thought about him for doing so.

"I have time to listen." Alex said with a smile.

So Applejack told him about him being the human element of honesty, how they were elemental partners, and a little bit about why else she was there. This lasted about two minutes before they began to kiss some more.

Meanwhile, back with the others, things continued to go south. Rarity was on the verge of stabbing Louis in the face with the plastic fork she had eaten her salad with as he continued to make sexual jokes about her. Both Twilight and Carl had a serious case of face-to-hand syndrome. And Pinkie Pie was still looking around anxiously for Pete to arrive.

The only ones who were doing fine at the tables were Fluttershy and James, who were now talking about Fluttershy's work with animals, which James had a great interest in.

"So what type of animal is your favorite?"

"Oh my, I couldn't tell you. They're all just so wonderful." she said with a big smile as her eyes looked off as if she was imagining all of the little and big animals that she took care of.

"Just pick one then."

"Well, I guess that would be bunnies. They're just so cute and fluffy."

James chuckled a bit, "Like Angel, right?"

Fluttershy nodded and ate some more of her salad with her mouth which, again, looked like she was using a fork to eat from other people's point of view (I'm sorry if this human projection thing is confusing).

"Oh hey it's Petey!" Pinkie exclaimed, pointing her hoof towards the entrance of the mall.

Pete saw Pinkie and game a grave smile and walked over to her. She ran over and almost knocked him over as she gave him a big hug. Pete's eyes were wide and he froze in fear. He shook a little bit, not used to this showing of affection from anyone, let alone a girl he somewhat liked.

Pinkie broke the hug and giggled, "What took you so long I was worried that you wouldn't show up! But, you're here now so I'm happy!"

"Sorry, I was…busy." Pete muttered quietly as Pinkie smiled back at him. Pete saw this and smiled back at her, though he was still clearly taken aback by her excited nature that was the complete opposite of his own quiet nature.

"Oh, okay! Hey, come on lets go back to the table!" she said before she grabbed the timid boy's hand and literally dragged him over to the table. Once there, Pinkie pulled his seat out so he could sit down. Once in his seat, he put his hands onto the table and looked down at them. James and Fluttershy, who were right across from him, looked at each other before James turned to Pete.

"So, Pete, glad to see you could make it." James said.

Pete didn't answer immediately, but after a few seconds he managed to whisper out, "Thanks for inviting me."

James smiled and patted Pete on the back, which made him flinch a bit.

"_Wow, he's like Fluttershy. How in the world did he and Pinkie get paired up?"_

Pinkie took the seat next to him and stared at him with a huge grin.

"So Jamesie-wamsie, how old are you?"

"Um…seventeen." He muttered.

"Hey, is something wrong? You know, when I'm upset about something, I bake! Or sing! Or, well, a lot of things, really! It all depends on what I feel like or what I can do!"

"Penelope, um, maybe you shouldn't…." Fluttershy began, but Pinkie didn't hear her attempt at a warning as she continued to talk non-stop.

Surprisingly enough, her ramblings actually seemed to be making Pete smile and feel better about being around these kids that he didn't know. He looked up into her eyes, which was rare for him to do because of his shyness, and smiled at her. James sighed in relief and decided to just let the conversation go. After all, it was only helping Pete out.

"Where are you from?" Pete finally got the courage to ask.

"Oh I'm from Ponyville!"

James, who was drinking some soda at the time, went wide-eyed and chocked on the drink. He pounded his chest to stop coughing.

Now, Pete looked at her skeptically, "Ponyville? Where's that?"

"Well, it's actually on another world called Equestria!"

Pete's face was frozen, his eyes wide open and his mouth agape. He shook his head, "Why are you doing this to me?"

Pinkie was still smiling, but then looked at him curiously. Pete then turned to James.

"Is this why you all called me out here? Because you found out I'm a brony and wanted to mock me?"

"Pete no of course not…."

"The beatings I get at school aren't enough? I can't enjoy a show that lets me escape? Who the hell do you think you are?" Pete said on the verge of tears.

He stood up and stormed out of the mall.

"Pete, wait!" Pinkie shot up and ran after him.

"God-damn it." James stood up and followed them towards the exit with Fluttershy right on his heels.

Pete and Pinkie were already outside and James was about to be as well when out of the corner of his eye he saw Alex and Applejack making out near the carousel. He stopped, turned and stared at them in astonishment.

"Um…Alex? Anna?"

Alex looked up at James and smiled, breaking the kiss for a second, "'Sup man?"

"Howdy James." Applejack said as she began to kiss Alex some more.

James didn't know what to say, he was too confused by everything that was happening. He then felt a hoof tap him on the shoulder and saw Fluttershy pointing outside, "Um, I hope I'm not interrupting but shouldn't we go outside?"

James nodded and went out. Alex saw this and brought it to Applejack's attention.

"Should we go too?"

"Ah think so." She said as they, too, began to head out.

Back at the table, Carl and the others saw what was going on with Pinkie and Pete.

"That's not good." Carl said, "Come on, let's go after them."

They began to leave, but just as Rarity was about to go, she felt someone tug at her "shirt" (really her tail) and she yelped in pain. She turned around to see Louis looking her up and down. Once his eyes met hers, he winked, "So, you're place or mine?"

"What?" Rarity growled.

"I have to tell you, could you help me up, because I literally can't move right now." He broke out into laughter because, well, as said before, he was stoned.

Rarity scowled, walked over to Louis. She leaned forward, right into his face, and spat,

"Listen here bud; do you honestly think that you will win your way to a girl's heart with this behavior?"

"No, just her pants." Louis said with a dumbass stoner smile.

Rarity couldn't hold it in anymore and she began her rant, "You are without a doubt the single rudest person that I have ever met, and I once met a prince who placed part of my lovely dress into a puddle just so he wouldn't get wet when he walked over it. Now you're here in your, ghastly attire and your brash and uncouth attitude and an undeserved feeling of superiority. You see women as nothing more than something to take advantage of; well I see you as a loafer that does nothing but sit on his flank all day laughing at his own jokes and _horrid_ smell. So let me make this perfectly clear to you now so when another girl tells you the same it will not be a shock. You are an utter and complete jerk, good day to you."

With that, Rarity turned in her typical _huff_ and stormed off after the others. She left Louis in his chair laughing his ass off, too stoned to even know what she was talking about.

Outside, Pete was walking off in no particular direction, as his parents had dropped him off and went to go grab some lunch before they were going to pick him back up.

"Petey, stop! Don't leave." He heard Pinkie shout behind him. He stopped and turned to see her, and the others, all walking towards him.

"Listen, just…please, leave me alone." He said, holding his hand out in desperation.

"Petey, I didn't mean to upset you. I just meant to answer your question, that's all."

"With a response that was clearly to mock me." Pete muttered, kicking a stray rock that was on the parking lot.

"No it wasn't." Pinkie said sadly, her mane flattened a little bit. This caught Pete's attention, as he saw, what he thought was her hair, flatten.

"How…how did you do that?"

"Do what?" she asked sadly.

"Your hair it….got flatter." Pete said nervously.

"Pete!"

He looked past Pinkie to see everyone else there now.

"Pete, listen. We aren't trying to mock you or anything; we just really need your help." Carl said.

"What's going on?" he asked shakily.

Carl turned to Twilight and pointed to Pete, "Do your thing Twi."

Twilight nodded and walked over to Pete, who took a sudden step back. He looked like a frightened animal being backed into a corner by a predator.

"Hey, Pete, come on it's okay."

Pete slowly stood back up and let her put her forehead to his chest. He didn't move and decided to let her get whatever she had to do to him over with quickly. She backed away and gave Pete a warm smile. She then closed her eyes and a purple aura shone from her forehead as slowly, Pete and Alex began to see what the girls really had looked like the entire time as the spell she had cast on everybody was now gone, Fortunately, though, no one else was around to see it, as everyone was too bust focused on getting into the mall to see five cartoon ponies in their midst.

Pete's jaw dropped as he looked down at "Penelope", who was now clearly Pinkie Pie.

"P-Pinkie Pie?"" Pete stammered as the pink mare nodded with a big smile, her mane puffing back up in joy. He started to feel like he was going to faint so he sat down on the pavement of the parking lot, leaning against a sedan, and put his head into his hands. "This….this is impossible."

"No, it's possible all right!" Pinkie Pie bounced over to him, "and you're the Element of Laughter! Well, for Earth anyways! I'm still the Element of Laughter for Equestria!"

Pete shook his head in disbelief.

Meanwhile, Alex looked at Applejack, who was looking back up at him.

"It's amazing you…you look exactly like you do in the show. You look animated, like this dimension did nothing to alter your appearance," Alex said with a chuckle, "you're like something out of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"." He snickered a little.

(Side note: I hate when shows alter cartoon characters' appearances when they are in our dimension to be "realistic", therefore I refuse to do that)

Applejack gave Alex a small smirk of her own and got up on her hind legs and kissed Alex on the lips.

Carl and James saw this and looked at each other with pure confusion.

"Um Alex…what are you doing?" Carl asked.

"Kissing the most beautiful mare ah know." He said with a little southern accent, winking at Applejack who just laughed at him.

"Yer such a sweetie sugarcube." She teased back.

James was stunned for a moment before he just nodded, "Okay, we've officially gone nuts. If you excuse us, Fluttershy and I have something that we've got to do."

James walked off, Fluttershy flying right behind him.

Carl was still looking at Alex and let out a sigh.

"Awwww…that's sweet, isn't it?" Twilight said as she watched Alex and Applejack kissing as if they'd known each other for longer than an hour. Well, technically, Alex did. But this wasn't anything new to him; after all he often kissed girls during the first date, even if it was a blind date going into it. But it didn't hurt that he was kissing his favorite pony either.

"I don't get it, why is Alex kissing Applejack?"

"Probably because they like each other?" Twilight said with a chuckle, "besides, I know you have some of those feelings about me."

Carl shook his head in disbelief, his denial starting to crank up to full speed, "What?"

"You heard me."

James came back over to Carl, "Hey man, sorry to bother you but I just had a senior moment and remembered that I don't have a car. Could you give me a lift to where I and Fluttershy need to be?"

Carl didn't hear him, he was just staring down at Twilight, "So you're insinuating that I have a thing for you?" Carl asked, voice getting shaky, which revealed his anxiety.

"I know you have a thing for me." She said with a teasing smile.

But Carl was too concerned about being found out, so he said something that he regretted immediately "No I don't because unlike Ryan and Alex, I don't have a thing for cartoon ponies. I don't find you attractive."

Twilight looked at Carl with sad eyes. "You…you don't find me attractive?" she looked like she was going to cry. Carl didn't want to see this and feigned a lack of interest by turning and walking in a huff back towards his car.

Everyone watched him go. Everyone, that is, except Pinkie Pie, as she tried to calm Pete down, which was actually working quite well.

"What was that all about?" Rarity asked.

Twilight just looked at the ground and sighed, "It's nothing Rarity."

"Ya, it's nothin' if Carl actin' like a jerk don't count." Applejack spat and Alex sighed,

"Wait here AJ." He turned and ran off after Carl with James right on his heels. He was freaked out by Alex's behavior but at the same time he could never say anything like that to Fluttershy.

How Carl managed to fit the five girls, as well as him and James, in his father's Caprice, he'd never know. God bless cartoon physics.

When they reached Carl, they saw him leaning against the side of his car.

"Dude, what the hell's your problem?" Alex hissed.

"I don't want to talk about it." He muttered sadly. "I don't…"

"Well look, you really hurt Twilight's feelings back there, I think you should go apologize."

Carl looked up at them, "I'm sorry, _I_ need to apologize? She's the one making accusations against me! Saying I like her with no proof, and she gets mad when I'm honest with her?"

"Yeah, you're being honest, _right_." James muttered in sarcasm, for even he could see the love in his eyes when he was with Twilight.

"She just was making a point because you dissed me and Applejack kissing." Alex spat, "and yeah, I do like Applejack, _a lot_. I know that's hard for someone like you to understand when you're life hasn't been all hurt and pain, but I love her, and I have for a long time."

"What do you call what happened to my father then?" he hissed.

"That was five years ago Carl," Alex said flatly, "And yes I know it is sad and I do understand that you miss him still. But besides that your life is blessed! You have a loving mother, you almost never get picked on, you have your health, and your family is economically stable." Alex said, on the verge of tears. He was so angry he didn't notice Applejack sneak up behind him, looking at him with concern. "I have an alcoholic step-father that beats me and my mother every night. Don't you ever wonder why I have these bruises on my face?" he asked, pointing to some red marks that were all over his face."

"Alex, I…" Carl started, but he was cut off as Alex continued.

"And Ryan? Try being him! Sure his parents love him and he's well off as far as money goes, but does all of that matter when you get the shit kicked out of you every day to the point where no girl would date you! Not to mention I never see you step up to defend him! You have no right to judge us for how we feel towards these girls."

"Wait, Ryan told you about his crush Rainbow Dash?" Carl asked.

"Ryan has a crush on Rainbow Dash?" James asked.

"Yes, Ryan told me all of the time how much he loved Rainbow Dash because he knew that if she was real, she would always be there for him. She'd be loyal and love him more than anyone he knew. And after what happened between him and Lawrence, I understand why loyalty is so important to him."

"Ryan didn't tell me any of that until the yesterday." Carl said.

"That's because he felt like I was the only completely trustworthy person around. And I assume he only told you yesterday because you all found out Rainbow Dash is real, right?"

Carl nodded and Alex continued.

"As for me, watching the show made me remember the lies that my mother had told me to the point where I always wished that Applejack would be real. She represents something that is dying in this world; honesty; honesty and hard work, both of which are values that our generation has thrown by the wayside." Alex took a deep breath before continuing."

Carl wiped some tears away, but he was still holding more back. "Alex I never knew…."

"That's right you never knew. You don't know anything. You think you do just because we tell you some of this, but in reality you can't possibly fathom what it's like, what Applejack has meant to me ever since I started to watch the show."

After that, Applejack nudged Alex's leg. He looked down to her and smiled. She smiled back and nuzzled his hand affectionately before shooting a glare at Carl, "Hey Alex, maybe we could give James and Fluttershy ah ride." She said.

Alex nodded, looking up at James, "James? Fluttershy?"

James slowly nodded and followed; himself a bit uneasy about the situation between Alex and Applejack.

Carl just looked back over to where Twilight was to see her hunched over, Rarity putting her foreleg over her.

"_I'm an asshole."_ Carl sighed and stomped the ground angrily.

As Alex, James, Applejack and Fluttershy left, Carl sighed and decided to go apologize.

Meanwhile, Pinkie was oblivious to all of this, as she was gabbing non-stop to Pete, slowly making him talk more and more until they were having actual conversations.

Carl walked over to Twilight to see that her eyes were shut and she was crying as Rarity tried to comfort her.

"Um…Twilight."

She turned to look at Carl, her eyes were filled with tears. Rarity looked at Carl with a small scowl before looking back down at Twilight.

"I'm sorry for being a jerk. You aren't just a cartoon pony to me, you're…you're more than that. You're my friend and…you are beautiful. It's just…"

"No…" she said, wiping her tears away, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I insinuated that you liked me when you didn't."

Carl looked down and slowly nodded, as he decided to keep up his act of not having feelings for her. He wished that he could just say how he really felt about her, how he did love her in a way that was more than just a friend.

But he couldn't. He wasn't Ryan or Alex, who could just profess their feelings to these girls. He still felt scared about what would happen when people found out about his feelings that weren't his friends and who would judge him.

How would his mother react? His sisters? How would other people around town react? What about when she had to go back to Equestria, as he knew that she would have to. Would he have to watch her go away forever, after professing such emotions to her?

It wouldn't work.

He stuck his hand out for Twilight to shake, and she did so with a small smile. Now, in her mind, she knew Carl was lying; after all she was very smart. And she knew that someday, he'd tell her. But she didn't want to pressure him into anything too soon and, being the great friend that she was, decided not to ask him about it anymore until the time was right.

**Carl's House**

"What did I do to deserve this?" Spike asked in a huff. He was in Anna's room, sitting at a tea party table set-up with Anna and her stuffed animals. The two girls had a half-day at school, so they were able to come home and watch Spike so that Carl could leave with the others. He was in a small tuxedo that normally would have gone onto a larger-sized doll. Lisa was walking down the hall when she saw this. She stopped and looked at the scene with utter bewilderment.

"Come on its fun." Anna said.

"You and I clearly don't have the same definition of the word "fun"." Spike groaned.

Lisa began to crack up. "Anna, what are you doing with Spike?"

"She's torturing me." Spike said flatly with his face still in a _are you kidding me_ expression.

Lisa laughed and walked over, "Anna, come on you know guys don't like this stuff. Spike, if you want you can watch a movie with me downstairs."

"Thank you Lisa." Spike said with releif as he walked out of the room. Anna sulked a bit; her arms crossed like a typical kid, and looked away in her own, calm version of a hissy fit.

As he walked off, Lisa giggled. Spike turned around and sighed, "What now?"

Lisa pointed to his tuxedo, "You still have the tux on."

Spike looked down at it and laughed, "Yeah, I know. But I think it makes me look dignified."

"Even if it was given to you by a six-year old to wear at her tea party?" Lisa said with a sly smirk. Spike rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, I think if Twilight gave me a moustache it would look better. Everything looks better when you have a moustache.".

"For a guy, I agree. Not so much a girl though." Lisa said.

"So you said something about a movie?"

Lisa nodded, "Yeah, right this way."

She led Spike downstairs into the living room

"Wow, you know this house sure is big."

"Really? Here in Wilmont this is the average home size, not too large, not too small." Lisa said as she rummaged through a small drawer that was under the television, looking for the movie she wanted. "It's just right."

"Huh, interesting. The Princess might want to know about this."

"What, the house?" Lisa asked and Spike nodded. "Huh, is she doing research or something?" Lisa asked as she laid her eyes on the DVD, _"aha!"_ she thought in triumph, pulling the movie out.

"No, she just likes to know things about different species and worlds because…." Spike was cut off by a belch that resulted in a scroll landing on the floor in front of him.

Lisa walked over, "Is that from Princess Celestia?"

Spike nodded and opened it and, once again, read it out-loud like a politician, if politicians were actually cool:

_Dear Twilight,_

_I have found more information regarding the last Element, as I know you've been successful in finding two of the last three. His full name is Louis Clarkson. I hope this helps,_

_Best, _

_Princess Celestia._

Spike looked up at Lisa, "Does your brother know a Louis Clarkson?"

Lisa shook her head, "If he has, I haven't heard about him."

"Where should I put this?" he asked as he pointed to the letter, which he scrolled back up into its original look.

"I don't know, on the coffee table." Lisa said as Spike nodded and placed the scroll onto the table. "Okay, now the movie I am going to show you is one of my favorites."

"Awesome! What is it?" Spike asked excitedly, sitting on the couch with his eyes wide in excitement. Lisa then stopped and looked at Spike, placing her hand on her chin to think.

"Hm…Spike, how old are you?"

"Twelve, why?" (yes this is human years I'm doing)

"Really, you're twelve and you're still considered a _baby_ dragon?"  
>"He-he, if you see an adult dragon, then you'd know why I'm just a baby."<p>

"Good point, okay, the reason I ask is because this movie has a lot of swearing and some blood and gore in it. It's funny, but I hope it doesn't corrupt you." Lisa said.

Spike shrugged, "Eh, don't worry. I'm not bothered by swearing. Hardly anyone in Equestria ever swears, but I'm cool with watching a movie that has swearing in it."

Lisa smiled, "Great, well, let's watch!" She flopped back onto the couch next to Spike.

"By the way, what's the name of this movie?" he asked.

Lisa smiled, "Hot Fuzz."

**Outside of Caroline's House**

James stood just outside of the door to his little cousin's house. Alex let him and Fluttershy off and was waiting for them in his car, talking more with Applejack about her adventures. Fluttershy stood next to him, looking up at James.

"James, are you sure about this?"

"Trust me Fluttershy; she needs this more than anything else in the world. Now go around the back and I'll let you in."

Fluttershy nodded and flew off towards the back of the house.

"_Since Twilight removed the spell, it's now or never."_ James thought.

He then let out a sigh and knocked on the door. A few moments later, the door opened and Aunt Christie was there, holding a tissue in her right hand and wiping her eyes with the other. Her eyes were red as turnips, clearly from crying.

"James, what are you doing here?"

"Aunt Christie, can I please see Caroline?"

Aunt Christie nodded and got out of the way so James could enter the house. He walked towards Caroline's room, but just before he got in, Aunt Christie put her hand out on the door to stop him. He turned to her.

"Be careful, she's gotten worse since yesterday."

James nodded and opened the door to Caroline's room before shutting it gently behind him. He walked over to her bed, where she laid, dark circles formed under her sweet, innocent eyes that were almost completely closed.

"James…?" she whispered as her eyes opened a bit more.

"Hey kiddo," James said, holding back his tears and mentally praying that what he was about to do would make her feel better, "how are you feeling?"

"Been better." She whispered as she put on a fake smile that made James die a little bit on the inside.

"Hey Caroline, there's something I want to show you," James said as he slowly made his way to the window without taking his eyes off of his little cousin, "but you have to promise not to tell anyone and to stay calm, because it is unbelievable."

Caroline weakly nodded and James sighed, "Caroline, remember what you said yesterday about your own personal heaven being Equestria?"

Caroline nodded, sitting up a bit more in interest. "Yeah."

"Well I've gotten you a little piece of heaven." And with that, James opened the window and leaned out, "Over here."

Now, Caroline was expecting maybe someone dressed in a MLP costume or some form of merchandise that Carl had often bought her with his salary. She mainly thought it was going to be someone bringing her a replacement Fluttershy t-shirt since she threw up on the other one.

What she didn't expect was to see Fluttershy herself gently fly into her room and land next to James. Her eyes now went wide and she suddenly seemed to show a great deal more of energy.

"Caroline, I'd like you to meet Fluttershy," he said, pointing to the yellow pony, "and Fluttershy, this is my cousin Caroline."

Fluttershy flew up to Caroline on her bed so she was right in front of her, smiling and surprisingly outgoing, like she _knew_ that Caroline needed this, and her shyness would have to be put on hold for now. "Hello Caroline."

Caroline's shocked face suddenly broke into a big smile, "Hello." She said happily, which made James become happier.

"James here told me all about you, and how brave you've been." She said in her typical motherly way. "And I just wanted to say that I'm awfully sorry that you have to go through everything you have. I hope me being here makes you feel better, James said it would…but if it doesn't that's fine too I…"

She was cut off when Caroline suddenly bear-hugged her and began to cry into her shoulder out of pure happiness. James noticed how Fluttershy still didn't show any timid inflections, she just hugged back.

"_wow, able to put her sacredness aside for others, God no wonder she's the element of kindness."_ James thought as he smiled both on the inside and on the outside at the scene of Fluttershy and Caroline hugging, Caroling being happier than she had been in a while.

After the broke the hug, Fluttershy looked at her, "When you get better I'd love to hang out with you sometime," she said before looking down for a second to show her vulnerable personality, "that is, if that's okay with you, of course."

Caroline nodded and wiped her tears of joy away, "I will, Fluttershy, I will."

Fluttershy nodded and she and Caroline hugged one more time. James wished that they could stay longer, but he had to get home and eat dinner.

"Fluttershy, we've got to go." James said, upset that she couldn't stay longer.

The two broke their embrace and exchanged one more smile before Fluttershy slew towards the window, stopping just before she exited and turned to Caroline. "I'll see you tomorrow." She said.

Caroline nodded with a big grin, the circles under her eyes overshadowed by the joy that radiated from them. Fluttershy then flew out and James shut the window.

"Yeah, sorry we can't stay longer but I've got to get home to…"

Suddenly, Caroline jumped off of the bed with sudden strength that she just seemed to get, ran over and hugged James with all of her, might, crying into his torso and saying "Thank you James. Thank you."

James hugged her back and smiled, happy that he had made her attitude improve so much just with one little act.

Though he knew that he had Fluttershy to thank more than anyone else, or _anypony_ else. After she broke their embrace, James headed out, hearing as his aunt was shouting in joy at how much it seemed like Caroline had improved after James' visit.

Once outside, James saw Fluttershy waiting for him.

"James, are you crying? D-did I do something wrong?" she asked and James shook his head.

James wiped some tears away and smiled at Fluttershy. "The only thing you ever did wrong was not coming to me sooner."

Fluttershy smiled back and flew up to James level so they could hug. They then headed back to Alex's car to go home, never having such a feeling of hope and joy as he did right then and there.

**Well I hope I did well with the emotional aspect of this Chapter, as it is always so hard to gague how well an emotional scene works when you write it yourself.**

**I also hope the relationship between Alex and Applejack wasn't too quick. And if it is, don't worry, it'll be the fastest one in this story (besides Ryan and RD's of course).**

**So I hope you liked it and, as usual, please read and review. **

**And thank you to all of my readers and reviewers who have made my ego too big, lol.**

**And, as usual...Go Giants!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: New Name, Affection, and Misery**

**Thank you to all who have read and reviewed so far! I'm glad that this story is as enjoyable for you all to read as it has been for me to write.**

**Also, even though I am not breaking this into three separate stories, if this was a movie or book trilogy, the first installment would be coming to an end soon.**

**Anyways, here's the story and please R&R.**

**And I only own my OCs.**

**And yes this is the shortest chapter for this story so far, I hope that's okay.**

**Carl's House- Evening**

It was almost dinner time by the time Carl got home with Twilight and Rarity. He knew that his mother was there, so he knew that he had to ask Twilight to cast the spell on her and Rarity so that when they went inside Lauren would only see Tara and Raquel rather than two animated ponies. But he wasn't just thinking about that, he was still beating himself up in regards to how he treated Twilight earlier that day, and how much he hated himself for doing so. After all, she had been so kind to him ever since she got there and he took it for granted.

As they walked up to the door, they heard Lauren in the kitchen making some vegetable soup and biscuits for dinner, Carl turned to the girls.

"Okay girls, listen, do not, I repeat, do _not_ do _anything_ that can blow your cover in the next hour, because my mom is going to ask you two to stay for dinner and because you both are staying here tonight you have to accept."

"Oh Carl, we wouldn't have a problem accepting dinner from your mother regardless even if we didn't have to stay here, I really want to meet her." She said in a happy way that resembled how a girlfriend would show her excitement to meet her boyfriend's parents. She then shut her eyes and the aura surrounded her and Rarity before disappearing. She looked up at Carl, "you're mom has the spell on her."

"Only mom, right?"

Twilight nodded and Carl let out a sigh before he knocked on the door. Lauren opened it to show her in an apron with a wooden spoon.

"_Aaanndddd the Oscar for Best Portrayal of a Stereotypical Mother goes to…" _Carl thought in annoyance.

"Hi Carl," said Lauren before she saw the two girls and smiling, "hello girls, I'm Mrs. Lewis, Carl's mom."

"It's very nice to meet you, I'm Tara, and this is my good friend Raquel."

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance Mrs. Lewis!" Rarity said as she walked into the house and looked around, "and I just _love_ what you've done with the place, simply exquisite."

"Why thank you Raquel. Yes this house was built in 1993 by David James Harrison, one of the best builders in the Upstate New York area." Lauren said with a smile, "Sorry if my knowledge on this house seems odd, but that's what happens when you work in the real-estate industry. You stop seeing houses as art and start seeing them as historical and decorative facts."

"Well, regardless, this is a very lovely house Mrs. Lewis." Twilight said as she turned to Carl and smiled. Carl smiled back before turning to Lauren.

"Hey Mom, can the girls stay for dinner?" Carl asked.

"Of course they can Carl." Lauren said with a smile. "But be careful, you girls are acting so sweet I think I might come down with something."

Rarity and Twilight giggled and Carl rolled his eyes.

Suddenly, Carl saw Spike walking down the hallway with Lisa to his room. Spike then saw Twilight and went to the balcony of the stairs and called down. "Hey Twi what…" Lisa quickly covered the dragon's mouth and dragged him off into her room just before Lauren looked upstairs to see who had said that. She saw nothing and shrugged before she turned back to the girls.

"Well, I hope you girls like vegetable soup and biscuits." Lauren said.

"Oh yes, that's marvellous, thank you very much." Rarity said.

"Thank you Mrs. Lewis!" Twilight added with an appreciative smile.

"Hey mom, is there any meat in the soup? Because Raquel and Tara are vegans." Carl asked.

"Nope, just vegitables." Lauren said with a smile.

After a little bit of talking, they all sat at the table to eat. Lisa and Anna joined them, and Spike remained upstairs. Carl could picture him bored out of his mind. He also knew that Spike would be starving and tried to think of something to do so he could bring food upstairs to him. Be when Carl saw Lisa shovel some biscuits into her pocket, he knew that she'd make sure that he was fed. After a little bit, they all went upstairs, Carl telling his mom that they were going to have a sleepover for the night. She approved and they all went up to Carl's room, except for Lisa, who ran into her room to give Spike the biscuits that she snuck into her pockets.

Once back in his room, Carl let out a sigh.

"Glad that went well." He muttered, not sarcastic at all. He was genuinely happy that, for once, everything went according to plan.

"Your mother is really nice, Carl." Twilight said with her kind smile.

"Yeah, plus we got lucky that it was a vegan meal tonight." Carl muttered when he heard a knocking at his door. He opened it to see Lisa standing in front of him, which Spike at her feet. His eyes were closed as he ate one of the biscuits in a state of pure bliss.

"Mmmmm…this is really good! Tell your mom that I approve of her cooking." Spike said before popping the last bit of biscuit into his mouth.

"I would if I could man, but she doesn't know you're here, remember?"

"Well," Spike said, licking his fingers, "tell her that Twilight approves and remember I did as well."

"Deal man" Carl said with a smile and small chuckle.

Spike raised his hand, "Wait! I almost forgot, the Princess sent a letter to Twilight today."

"She did?" Twilight asked and Spike nodded.

"Yeah, it's in Lisa's room. Wait here, I'll go grab it." He was about to leave when he stopped and turned to Lisa with a small smirk, "do you want anything from your room?" he said in a British accent.

"Cornetto." Lisa said with her own British accent before the both laughed. Spike headed off and Carl glared at Lisa.

"Um, Lisa how does he know that joke?"

"They apparently they like Edgar Wright in Ponyville." She said with a shrug.

"You showed him _Shaun of the Dead_ didn't you?"

"_Hot Fuzz_, but you were on the right track."

"Does he even know what Cornetto is?"

Lisa looked up at Carl, "Do you?"

Carl was about to answer when he stopped and shut his mouth. Of course he didn't know what Cornetto was exactly, since it was a British thing. Lisa smirked, "It's a type of British ice-cream you idiot, they even ate it in the movie. Your ignorance is _hilarious_."

Carl was about to shoot back with a snarky remark of his own when he felt Spike tugging at his pants leg. He looked down to see the dragon holding up the rolled up parchment. He took it and read if over before letting his arm drop to his side with a sigh. He turned to everyone and everypony else.

"Well, Carl, what did it say?" Twilight asked.

"Who's this Louis Clarkson?" Lisa asked.

"I have no idea." Carl muttered, "I-I've never met a Louis Clarkson in my life."

"You had to have met him Carl, the Princess said that all six of you know each other." Twilight said. Carl sighed and walked over to his book-shelf and pulled off his yearbook from that year and sat at his desk.

"Of course I'd have to do research over the summer." He muttered as he began to go through the entire High School yearbook to look for Louis.

"Research?" Twilight asked with an enthusiastic smile.

"Yeah, Twilight can you come over here and help me go through the…" he didn't need to tell her anything else as she zoomed over to his side with Rainbow Dash-like speed that he didn't expect from her. She got onto her hind legs and put her forelegs onto Carl's shoulder so she could look at the yearbook over Carl's shoulder. Carl blushed because of Twilight's proximity. Her warm body felt so comforting to Carl and when she glanced over at him with her big, violet eyes and gave him a smile, he could literally feel his face burning up.

"Well Carl? What are you waiting for, let's get started." She said and she gave him a little nudge.

Carl snaps out of it and points to the book, "O-okay, um Twi, this book has a picture of every kid in my High School from this year."

"Oh! Does that mean you're in it?"

"Yes."

"Let me see!" Twilight said as she began to flip through the pages, looking for Carl. He stopped her and she turned to give him a disappointed look. "Awwww come on, I want to see your picture!"

"Er. I don't think that would be a good idea." Carl said nervously.

Twilight looked at Carl with a devious smile, "Come on Carl, why wouldn't you want me to see your _beautiful_ face?"

Carl was shaking and thinking over everything that was going on when Twilight snatched the yearbook away from Carl. She moved it closer to the right side of the desk, which was more in her reach, and stuck her tongue out at Carl.

Rarity also came over to look, "Twilight, Carl, what are you two looking at?"

Twilight began to use her magic to flip through the pages, "Carl's picture."

She finally stopped on the page with the students in eleventh grade whose last names began with the latter "L" and quickly found Carl. As soon as she saw his picture, she fell to the floor laughing so hard that tears began to roll down her face and flood Carl's carpet.

Carl closed his eyes in embarrassment as his school picture was now being studied by Rarity the fashion queen. To this day he wasn't really sure which single thing had caused his picture to come out as bad as it did. He wasn't sure if it was the stereotypical issue of a terrible photographer. He couldn't tell if it was his bedhead that he forgot to completely comb over before going to school.

But he always suspected that it was because he and James had gotten drunk the night before and Carl's eyes still had the look of someone who had a massive hangover. That was the only time Carl ever got completely hammered, and, as was typical with his luck, it was the night before school pictures were done.

Oh yeah, and the picture showed that he was wearing a mud-stained ACDC t-shirt that he slept in.

So everything that could have gone wrong went to hell, and it wasn't one single thing that created this horror, it was a slew of different, unfortunate events that led up to it.

Rarity now started to laugh like crazy now, "HAHA, oh Carl who picked out that ghastly outfit? And your hair! Bwhahaha! You look like a Manticore attacked you!"

Carl rubbed his head from the embarrassment as Lisa, Anna and Spike also came over to see the picture and burst out into laughter.

"Carl, why do you look so bad?" Anna asked with a laugh.

"Anna, look at me right now, okay?" Carl pointed to himself, "This is your brother," he then pointed to the pictures, "and this is your brother on alcohol."

"So _that's_ why you only drink two beers now?" Lisa asked in-between laughs.

Carl sighed and nodded. He looked over to see Twilight and Rarity finally calming down.

"Hey um, don't we need to find Louis so we can beat Discord or something, I thought that was supposed to be our main priority." Carl said, pointing to the yearbook.

Twilight wiped a tear of laughter off of her cheek. "Oh my, sorry Carl that was just too funny."

"Yeah Carl, you just looked too amusing. Usually I'd be insulted by such a look, but I just couldn't help it." Rarity said with a smile.

Carl sighed and went over to his desk to look through the yearbook to see if he could find any person named Louis Clarkson. But with Twilight back to leaning against him and giving him at the feeling of happiness and warmth that he felt before she looked for his "amazing" portrait, he was having a hard time concentrating.

**Park- Evening**

Alex decided not to go home quite yet, rather he decided to take Applejack up to the local park to have some more alone time with her. He had loved her for the longest time, ever since he started watching the show, so it was only natural that he'd like to hang out with her some more, alone. On the way to the park, they talked more and more and, for some reason, Alex reverted back to talking with a little bit of a southern accent. Not a lot, but enough to please Applejack and make her feel at home.

Even stranger was that his accent was even thicker and more noticeable than it was when he lived in Texas. He would have been concerned had Applejack not told him how cute she thought it sounded, so he decided to keep it up. After all, he'd do whatever made his gal happy. When they got to the park, they stopped in the back portion of the lot.

Fortunately, there was only one soccer game going on so the lot was mostly empty. Most of the cars for the game were parked closer to the field so the families wouldn't have too far to walk to get to the field before the game started.

"We'll stop here, should be far enough away from everyone else." Alex muttered as he looked over his shoulder to make sure no one was too close to them.

"Okay, but, why are we here?" Applejack asked as Alex pulled the car into a parking space and put the brake on.

"I just feel like talking to you a bit more."

"And we can't do that at your house?" she asked and Alex shook his head. "Why can't we?"

"Because we can't okay?"

"It's cause of yer father, ain't it?"

"_Step-_father, and ya it is, unfortunately."

Applejack turned in the car seat so she was facing him, "Do ya want to talk about it?"

Alex shook his head. Applejack leaned over and nuzzled her head against his shoulder and sighed, "Am sorry that ya go through so much with yer family Alex, it ain't right."

"It is what it is." Alex muttered sadly. Being in the car with Applejack was the first time that he felt like anyone had loved him. The last time he felt like someone genuinely cared about him, besides his friends, was with his father before the divorce, while he was still alive. He wished that he could just leave Wilmont forever with Applejack and never have to return to his sadistic step-father and his oblivious and selfish mother.

He closed his eyes and shook his head, "But I still wish it wasn't." he said to complete his thought.

"It don't have ta be." Applejack said as her eyes closed, "ya can come live with me."

Alex looked down at her, "Live with you?"

"Yeah, ya can come live on Sweet Apple Acres if ya want. Ah mean, if ya hate yer home so much that ya don't wan't ta go back, why would ya? Ah think ya go through too much Alex, which is a shame 'cause yer a sweet boy."

Alex smiled a bit, "You'd really like me to live with ya?"

"Only if ya'd like to." Applejack said with a smile. She lifted her head off of Alex's shoulders and smiled at him. Alex chuckled a bit before they both kissed each other again, even more forcefully than what they did at the mall. When they broke it off, they looked at each other in the eyes and had a similar moment to Ryan and Rainbow Dash.

"I love ya AJ."

"I love ya too sugarcube."

Alex blushed at her using her famous nickname on him and they began to kiss each other some more while the parents watching the soccer game cheered as the red team scored a goal.

**Ryan's House**

Ryan lay on his bed next to Rainbow Dash, relaxing after a day of…well, relaxing. But it was not as boring as it sounded. Even through both Ryan and Rainbow Dash wanted to get out and do some stuff, they both enjoyed spending the day together. They watched some television and ate junk food. But no matter what, Ryan and Rainbow Dash both agreed that they'd have to try to convince Carl to let them out of the house tomorrow so they don't get cabin fever. As they lay in bed, Ryan was letting her listen to some songs off of his iPod. He wanted to see what kind of music she liked most.

The consensus: 1970's-1990's rock. In other words, whenever Ryan played a Rush song, a Metallica song, a Van Halen song, an ACDC song, a Kiss song, or an Aerosmith song, they would both rock out on the bed. It was a good thing his parents were asleep, because if not, they probably would have heard the commotion of a bed rocking as he and Rainbow Dash played the air-guitar and pretended to play the drums.

But this was not the only type of music that she liked.

"I like this one here." She said as she let out a sigh.

"Me too."

"What is it?"

"It's um… "This Land" by Hans Zimmer. It's from "The Lion King" soundtrack."

"I like it a lot."

"Yeah, Hans Zimmer is a God of music. Hold on; I've got a really cool song for you." Ryan scrolled through his playlist and found what he was looking for. The sounds of bagpipes and the French horn came on as Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and smiled big, listening to the beautifully orchestrated Celtic score.

"This is amazing."

"Glad you like it. This is the master John Powell's piece "Test Drive". It's from the movie "How to Train Your Dragon", which is my favorite animated film of all time, ironically replacing "The Lion King".

As the song began to pick up speed, Rainbow Dash looked at Ryan with a huge grin that was clearly being brought on be a high amount of adrenaline.

"Wow it…it just makes me want to go outside right now and fly!" She said with an excited grin.

"Wait until you see the movie." Ryan sighed before looking over at Dashie. They both looked at each other and chuckled. Just then Ryan thought of something, "You know what? I've got the perfect mellow song for you."

He got his iPod and scrolled until he found what he wanted and pressed play.

As "Somewhere over the Rainbow" began to play with only the ukulele part, Rainbow Dash looked at Ryan.

"Just give it a second, when you hear the lyrics you'll know why I chose this song for you."

That's when the lyrics began.

"_Somewhere over the rainbow_

_Way up high"_

Rainbow Dash looked at Ryan and smiled as he began to sing along with the song quietly, stroking her Rainbow mane that fit the lyrics so well with its brilliant array of colors.

"_And the dreams that you dreamed of_

_Once in a lullaby ii ii iii_

_Somewhere over the rainbow_

_Blue birds fly_

_And the dreams that you dreamed of_

_Dreams really do come true ooh ooooh_

_Someday I'll wish upon a star_

_Wake up where the clouds are far behind me ee ee eeh_

_Where trouble melts like lemon drops_

_High above the chimney tops thats where you'll find me oh_

_Somewhere over the rainbow bluebirds fly_

_And the dream that you dare to,why, oh why can't I? i iiii"_

After a while, the song finally ended, Ryan turned the iPod off and turned to see Rainbow Dash softly crying.

"Dashie what's wrong?"

She looked at Ryan and lunged at his face, planting her lips onto his and they engaged in another kiss. After they were done, she looked at Ryan, her face blushing under her blue fur.

"Sorry I just…that song was so beautiful. Can we listen to it again?"

Ryan smiled and gave her a nod. "Of course."

"And can you keep singing along? I like hearing your voice, you're good at singing. You have a great voice."

Ryan pressed play and the song began again, "Okay Dashie."

As the lyrics began, Ryan started to sing when he heard another voice chiming in. No, it wasn't the typical voice of Israel Kamakawiwo Ole'. Ryan looked down and saw Rainbow Dash was quietly singing along, her tough-sounding voice became softer as the followed the song word for word.

"Wow, Dashie, you one-up me in everything." Ryan said with a chuckle and Rainbow Dash also laughed a bit as well. "You have such a beautiful voice." .

She looked up at Ryan with a tired smile before pressing her face against his chest, her voice still following the song. Ryan planted a kiss on the top of her head before he continued to sing along with his marefriend and Israel Kamakawiwo Ole'.

**Pete's House **

After his parents went to sleep, Pete was brushing his teeth to get ready for bed. His head was still reeling from the events that took place that day. He sighed and walked back to the room to see Pinkie sitting on his bed with a big smile on her face.

"Hey Petey, are you still weirded out by me?"

Pete sighed, "Not as much. I'm…I'm starting to calm down a little bit."

"Great! Hey, have you ever seen my party cannon?" Pinkie said, pulling a cannon out from behind Pete's bed. "I'd use it now, but it is _REALLY_ loud and you made it clear that you wanted no noise."

Pete nodded slowly and made his way over to his bed and lay down in it, "What a weird day." He muttered quietly to himself.

"Hey Petey, I was just wondering why are you so shy anyways?" Pinkie asked.

"Because I am." He muttered.

"Come on! That's not a good reason!"

Pete sighed and turned over onto his side so he could turn his light off and go to sleep, but he felt a hoof stop his hand. Suddenly, Pinkie dropped down in front of his face.

Yes, she was not hanging onto anything and yet she managed to become suspended in the air, upside down, with her face directly in front of James'.

Again, God bless cartoon physics…or lack thereof.

"Please tell me!"

Pete shook his head, "Maybe next time, I just…I don't want to talk about something like that now. It's too depressing."

"Awwww," Pinkie said with disappointment before smiling again, "okey-dokey, but don't think this is the end of it."

"I'll tell you."

"Pinkie promise?"

Pete sighed and nodded, sticking his pinky out. Pinkie looked at it with confusion, "What is that?"

Pete looked down at his pinky and chuckled, "Whoops, sorry I forgot you have your own Pinkie promise."

Pinkie chuckled and they looked at each other and went through her promise routine:

"_Cross my heart, hope to fly,_

_Stick a cupcake in my eye."_

They both said before they laughed together. Pete was starting to feel a little more comfortable around her now. He got under the covers and closed his eyes.

"Good night, Pinkie."

"Good night Petey-weetie!"

"Hey Pete?"

"Yes Pinkie?"

"You don't have to worry about what other people think about your humor or what you say, all that matters is what you think." with that insightful statement, Pinkie fell asleep.

Pete was stunned that she was able to figure out the main reason for his insecurity. But if she knew that, why would she be so adament about knowing his back-story? Pete decided to think more about it in the morning, but he was happy that he now had someone, or somepony, that he could talk to about his problems, and why he was as shy as he had been for years. After thinking about all of this, Pete closed his eyes and went to sleep. For the first time, Pete fell asleep with a smile on his face.

**City Hall**

Again, after everyone else had left city hall for the night, Obscure Darkness and Drocsid were talking more about the growing threat to their reign.

"The boy didn't leave his house at all today?" the Mayor asked Obscure with a raised eye-brow.

"No sir. Lawrence kept an eye on him all day and said the only people to come in and out of his house were his parents."

Drocsid sighed and walked over to the large window in his office that overlooked downtown Wilmont. He sighed as he saw all of the cars below him driving off in the chaos of the night.

"Should we go after him, sir?"

"Not yet." The Mayor said.

"But, we already know that he's an element and if we take care of him, we will be victorious. After all they need all six to defear you."

"And if we leave him be eventually he'll get a false sense of security and he'll lead us to the other elements and we can take all of them down. I'm patient with this."

"Yeah, you mean like last time where you just sat back and watched as the mane six froze you in stone? We can't do that this time Discord, we have to be proactive." Obscure muttered.

"I have learned my lesson, trust me." the Mayor said before turning around from the window as slowly walking up to Obscure Darkness, "But this world is not Equestria, and these six kids don't need my help in losing faith in their elements. As long as they don't have faith in what they represent, they cannot defeat us. And in this world, who could have faith in such sacred things as magic, loyalty, honesty, generosity, laughter, and kindness? No one, because none of that exists in its pure form here."

Obscure gave Drocsid a confused look, "So, we just let them go?" He asked with annoyance at the idea of letting their targets get away.

"No, on the contrary," Drocsid said, raising a finger, "we let them get overly confident and then cut them off at the knees, thus shattering their hope to defeat us. Let me ask you is it worse to die before you had any hope at all, or after you've gained it?"

Obscure nodded at this, "Makes sence, I guess. What if this Ryan kid leads us to the others, do we just let them go?"

"No, if he leads you to more than two elements by all means go after them and get them. But we don't need to worry about only him. Just keep watching his actions and see if he goes out with friends."

"Yes sir."

**James' House**

It was almost James' bedtime, but before he could let the sandman pull him into his slumber, he had to get his daily lecture from his parents.

He sat at the kitchen table, across from his parents who both stared directly at him with accusing eyes. James looked up the stairs, wanting to get this over with so he could spend some time with Fluttershy before he went to sleep. But he couldn't keep looking up at the stairs and mentally escape the situation that he was in; rather he felt his parents' eyes pierce him like a hot knife through butter.

"James, answer our question," James' stern father asked, "what did you do today?"

James sighed and turned his attention back to the table; his eyes looking down at his hands rather than up into the eyes of his condescending parents.

"I told you already, I went to the mall to see some friends and spent some time with Caroline." James muttered, getting annoyed that they always wanted to know what he did so they could shoot it down.

"So what you're telling us is that you didn't do anything productive today?" James' mother said as she looked her son square in the eyes.

"Nothing that you'd understand." James muttered.

"Son, I've told you a thousand times, you need to find something constructive to do this summer." James' Dad said.

"I have a job."

"That's not what I meant." James' dad said in an irritated tone, "I meant something like a hobby, or interests that you have."

James gave his father a cold look, "Interests?"

"Do you have any?" his mom asked.

"I have plenty of them; I just don't know which ones you'll approve of." James said with pure bitterness.

"Patrick has soccer, he has guitar, and he takes art classes down at the YMCA. You have a job, that's it."

"And which one pays the bills?" James asked.

"What?" his father asked with annoyance.

"Which one will pay the bills?" James chuckled, "Yeah soccer, arts and games are all fun and good, but how beneficial are they if you can't put food onto the table?"

James' mother and father exchanged glances before sighing, "James, I just want to let you know how scared we are for you. How we fear your future success with getting into college next year."

James just kept smiling, thinking about Caroline and how much better he had made her day. Why should he let himself get upset just because his parents downgrade him? He made Caroline happier than she's been in a long time. At the end of the day, nothing else mattered.

"Do you understand where I'm coming from son?" James' dad asked, snapping James back from his thoughts.

"Yes sir." He said with a small smile.

"Good, now, go to bed."

James stood up and walked up the stairs with a big smile that grew bigger and bigger, leaving his parents downstairs to talk about what a disappointment their younger son was.

James got upstairs and shut the door, seeing that Fluttershy was resting on his bed, eyes closed. He thought she was asleep, so he tip-toed until he heard her stir.

"Oh hi James, I'm sorry I fell asleep. I was really exhausted."

James chuckled, "That's all right Fluttershy."

He walked over to her and sat down onto his bed to stroke her pretty pink mane. She nuzzled his hand with affection as she lay back against the bed.

"You know, Fluttershy, you did a really great thing for Caroline today." James said with pure joy, "I haven't seen her that happy since before she got sick."

"Wow, well, I'm glad that your cousin loved my visit so much." She sighed in the cutest way, "maybe I can go see her again tomorrow."

"Definitely, and I really appreciate it as well." James muttered. Fluttershy looked up at him and gave him a smile before resting back against the pillow and closing her eyes. He kept stroking her when suddenly his phone began to go off. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the caller I.D.

Fluttershy opened her eyes to look at James. When James looked at the caller I.D., his smile slowly fell. He answered the phone and listened.

"Aunt Christie? What's…." that's all James said before there was complete silence. Fluttershy slowly sat up in James' bed and watched as James' bright eyes slowly widened. But it wasn't in joy or excitement…it was shock, and not a good kind of shock. Slowly, he pressed "end" on the phone and looked up.

"James?" Fluttershy asked, moving closer to the edge of the bed, "James, what is it?"

James didn't flinch; he just stood still like a statue ad muttered in a volume just above a whisper, "Caroline….Caroline died an hour after we left."

"Oh my…James I'm so sorry."

James bit his lip as he tried to hold is tears back. Eventually, though, it was all for naught. With fierce anger he hurled his phone at the wall of his room, shattering it to pieces. Fluttershy flinched back a bit at his sudden outburst, but then watched as he turned around and fell onto the bed sobbing like he never sobbed before. Fluttershy was in complete shock over this. She watched James, who had not a moment before been all smiles and full of hope, disintegrate into a heap of misery and despair. Fluttershy slowly walked over to his side and placed her hoof onto his shoulder. "James, it's okay. I'm here for you."

James looked up at her and quickly wrapped his arms around her and sobbed into her yellow-furred shoulder, "Fluttershy….Fluttershy…w-why did…." He continued to cry.

Fluttershy began to rub James' back and shush him like he was her child, hoping that she could at least sooth the hurt he had felt.

But James kept crying for another hour into her shoulder, both tears of anger and misery, anger that he had let himself actually believe that something good could happen for someone that he cared about, and sadness for Caroline.

Fluttershy tried to comfort James as much as she could, but it did little as he was still tearing himself up on the inside. All he wanted to do was stay in Fluttershy's embrace for the rest of his life, where he felt like somepony still cared about him.

The pony who had comforted him during Caroline's illness before she came to his world, was now comforting him in his time of greiving for her death.

And though the pain James felt tore at him like a lance, her being there made him feel better, even if only a little bit.

**Hope you enjoyed that, and I hope that the emotional scene at the end was effective...but not too effective as I don't want everyone to be bawling or depressed.**

**Again, thank you for reading and I'll hopefully get the next chapter up soon.**

**Go Giants! Go Rainbow Dash!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**The Last Element**

**I hauled through this. And, as I always say, I hope the story keeps going in a good direction for all of you guys.**

**Anyway, I only own my OC Characters and YES Louis is in this chapter...and he is the complete opposite of what you'd expect.**

**So please read, review and, most of all, enjoy.**

**Carl's house**

It was late at night as Carl kept looking over the yearbook for anyone whose name was Louis Clarkson. So far, he found just about as much as the police did of Jimmy Hoffa, nothing. Carl's head was bopping up and down as he fought to keep himself awake, which sucked because it was summer, and that struggle with sleep usually only happened in school when the teacher droned on about some stupid Civil War Battle or some bullshit about derivatives. As he did this, Twilight remained right next to him, just as tired as he was.

Carl turned to look at her to see if she was still awake. When he did this, Twilight noticed his move so she looked at him and smiled, "Maybe the rest of this can wait until tomorrow."

"Yeah, I agree." Carl said with a yawn before he closed the yearbook and got up. He walked over to his bed and crawled under the covers. As Twilight got in, he noticed that she was shivering a bit.

"Twi; are you okay?"

She looked at him and nodded, "Yeah I'm fine, just a little cold is all."

Carl smiled and brought himself closer to her, wrapping himself around her in a hug to warm her up.

"Better?"

Twilight looked at Carl and gave a big yawn right, "Better."

Carl smiled, _"Why am I fighting this? She's so cute. Why should I care what other people think?"_

They looked into each other's' violet eyes with pure love that they both shared for one another. Carl sighed as he felt like now would be as good a time as ever to tell him his feelings.

"Twilight I…?" Carl started.

"Yes?" she asked excitedly.

"I…" he began when, suddenly, he heard his cell phone buzzing on his dresser.

_BUZZ BUZZ_

He sighed, "Hold on a second."

Twilight chuckled and gave him a nod, ready for him to finally tell her his true feelings.

Carl grabbed the phone and looked at it for the caller I.D.

"Who is it?" Twilight asked.

"It's James, but he's calling from his home phone." Carl quickly pressed "talk, "he never does that. _(to James over phone)_ Hello?" he said before waiting for James to respond. After a few seconds, eyes mouth dropped, "What? Oh my God I'm sorry James I…..that's terrible, wow. Are you sure you don't need someone to come over?…Okay, okay I'll talk to you tomorrow…okay, bye."

He hung up and looked at Twilight. By her face, he knew that she could tell it wasn't good.

"What's wrong?"

Carl looked at her sadly, "James' cousin died."

Twilight put her hooves up to her mouth and gasped "Oh no, that's horrible."

Carl put his hands on his hips and looked down. He shook his head, "James is going to be a wreck."

"Do you still think we should look for that Louis boy tomorrow?"

"First we have to find out who he is." Carl said as he got back into bed next to Twilight, "and then….geez what do we do after that?"

"We have to find your elements."

"Wait, aren't we the elements?"

"I'm talking about the necklaces that you six have to wear," Twilight said, pointing to her neck, "like the ones we wore. Well, scratch that, I had to wear that crowny-thing."

Carl laughed a bit, "You mean a tiara?"

"I think it was a little big to be called a tiara."

"Whatever."

They both laugh a little bit and Carl yawns. Carl turned the lamp off besides his bed and turned back to face Twilight.

"Good night Twi."

"Good night Carl."

Though they were both in bed, their night was over. Once Carl was asleep, Twilight opened her eyes and leaned forward. Smiling, she gently pressed her glowing horn against Carl's forehead and then she too was asleep, her mind entering his mind.

**Carl's Dream**

Carl was in a large, white hallway that was adorned with stained-glass windows and a long, red rug. It looked very familiar, but Carl couldn't think of where he'd seen it before.

He also noticed that it seemed a bit…_animated_.

"What is this place?" he asked to no one in particular.

"This is Princess Celestia's Castle, Carl."

Carl turned around to see Twilight standing right behind him with a smile on her face, "Sorry, she sent me another letter and asked me to take you here."

"So, wait….am I really here though? Or is this a dream?"

"This is a dream for you both in that it occurs in your mind Carl, but it is real."

They both turned around to see a large, white alicorn with a rainbow-colored mane and tail, and a warm smile on her face. Carl's mouth dropped open when he saw the one, the only Princess Celestia standing before them both. Almost out of instinct, Carl got onto his knee and bowed forward to her as if he were one of her loyal subjects, even if she wasn't technically his ruler, he had a hell lot more respect for her than any politician in the U.S. government.

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight shouted before she ran up to the princess and they hugged.

"Twilight Sparkle, it's good to see you again." They broke the hug and the Princess looked down at Twilight before looking back up at Carl, as if she was addressing them both, "I'm aware that five of the six elements have been accounted for."

They both nodded, Carl's nod was a little slower than Twilight's through, as he was still in shock at what was happening. When the Princess saw that he was still kneeling in a bow-like position, she chuckled.

"Carl, you don't have to bow to me, after all I'm not your ruler."

"I know…though I should say," Carl said as he slowly began to stand up, "if you were our ruler, Earth probably wouldn't be as screwed up as it is."

"I wouldn't count too much on it." She said with a chuckle, "I've been observing your world for quite a while now, and I can safely say that I wouldn't make much of a difference there."

"Still, you'd be better than any of the leaders we have now." Carl said before remembering something vital, "Oh yeah while I'm here, I want to thank you for helping me out with the…you know…cop that was chasing us."

"Don't mention it," she said with a chuckle, "but I shouldn't be the one you should thank here, Carl. After all, you _and_ Twilight were why it worked."

At this statement, Carl shut his eyes and clenched his teeth nervously having a bad feeling about where this conversation was going. Twilight looked at the Princess with curiosity. "What do you mean Princess?"

"_Please don't tell her I was thinking romantically about her, please don't."_ Carl kept thinking over and over to himself, pleading for her to say something else. He didn't even want to think about Twilight knowing the thoughts that he had about her, and how he really felt. She already knew, but if she knew it powered him to create magic, he knew that she would constantly bug him until they went on a date.

He knew that he was close to telling her before James called about Caroline's death, but after that his brain took over his decision-making process from his heart, and began to fill his head with multiple negative _"what if"_ scenarios.

"You brought Carl's faith in magic back, and it was that faith in magic that gave him the ability to teleport the car."

"_THANK YOU PRINCESS CELESTIA!"_ Carl unclenched his teeth and let out a sigh.

"Oh really," Twilight asked and she turned to Carl, "I didn't know I helped you recover your faith in magic that quickly."

"Oh ya you did." Carl said in a very quick and nervous manner. "Very much so in fact, thank you Twi."

That's when Twilight gave Carl a very disbelieving look, her eyes half closed and her face serious, before she nodded, "No problem Carl."

"_Shit."_ Carl thought as he put on a fake smile to make it appear as if he had nothing to hide. But if anything, it made him look more suspicious.

"Sooooo," Carl said, turning back to face Princess Celestia, "why did you summon us here?"

"I just wanted to tell you that you must hurry and find the Element of Generosity so that you can search for the necklaces and crown that represent the elements and defeat Discord once and for all."

"I know, and we've actually been looking for Louis Clarkson in my yearbook but there isn't anyone with that name."

"Hmmm," Princess Celestia though for a minute, "I'm not exactly sure, then. Sorry I couldn't help you out more with that. But it must be someone in Wilmont and you had to have met them before."

"I have another question, sorry if I seem like I'm pestering you Princess Celestia."

Princess Celestia giggled a bit at Carl's neurotic side, "I don't mind Carl; ask away."

"Thank you. I was wondering if you could use magic like Twilight to search out the element."

"I'm sorry, I can't. If I use such a large spell, Discord will pick up on it and know who the Element that I'm searching for is before you can get to him." Princess Celestia said,

"Good to know."

"Anything else that you'd like to ask?"

"Not right now."

"Just remember, I am always watching over you and your friends."

"Thank you very much for everything Princess Celestia." Carl said before he kneeled again to show his gratitude for everything that she had done for him. He then heard hoof steps and felt somepony put hooves onto his shoulders. He looked up and saw that he was directly under the Princess, who was giving him a kind smile.

"You can do it, all you and the other five have to do is believe in what you stand for." Carl nodded without blinking, unable to avert his eyes from the Princess for even a second.

"Yes Princess."

"And," she said with a sly smile on her face before leaning into Carl's ear, "Your feelings aren't wrong and you shouldn't hold them back. Let her know how you feel."

Carl looked up at the Princess in shock as she smiled at him and winked knowingly. Carl gulped and looked over at Twilight, who had an inquisitive look on her face. Carl sighed and looked back up at the Princess.

"Yes Princess Celestia." Carl said.

"Now if you excuse me, I need to have a word with my student." At that, Princess Celestia walked back over to Twilight. Carl bit his lip and waited patiently as they talked to each other. He began to think everything over in his head, from Discord, to how he was going to find the last element, and, of course, to him and Twilight. He didn't know what to do about that. Clearly Princess Celestia knew about it, which didn't really surprise him, but he didn't know if he could tell Twilight how he felt; it was just too…_weird._

He knew that Ryan and Alex were had crushes their partners, hell he saw Alex and Applejack making out at the mall. He knew that he loved Twilight, but he really wasn't sure how he was going to tell her. After all, no matter how often he got lost in her eyes; he remembered the thought that constantly said, _"What the hell is the matter with you? She's a purple, animated pony from another dimension, and you like her? SHAAAAAMMMMEEEEE!"_

He wished he could just listen to his heart rather than his head this one time, but it was much more difficult than one might believe.

Carl snapped out of his thoughts when he saw Twilight trotting over to him after talking with the Princess. "Carl, you ready to head back?"

"You mean wake up? Yeah, I'm all set if you are."

The Princess walked over and smiled at them both, "You two will wake up now. And don't worry about being exhausted, because even though this conversation really happened, it is still technically a dream, and your body will still feel like it got great rest."

Suddenly, everything started to turn white. Just before everything disappeared into the bright, white void of nothingness, Carl heard, _"Remember to embrace your element."_

**Reality**

Carl's eyes shot open as he looked around to see that he was back in bed, the morning sun slowly creeping in through the venetian blinds that were covering his window. He looked over to his right to see Twilight looking at him with happy eyes.

"So, I take it that the dream was real." Carl muttered and Twilight giggled.

"Yeah, sorry about that, but I couldn't let you know that I was taking you under like that. The spell wouldn't have worked on you if you knew. Your subconscious would have stopped it."

Carl chuckled, "That's really cool, Twilight. Do you know that?"

Twilight blushed and nodded, "Yeah, I-I guess so. Oh, I hope I didn't sound too self-centered."

Carl laughed a bit, "Not at all."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes I am. Geez you sound like you did when Trixie was showing off and you were afraid of looking like a show-off."

They laughed a bit more until Carl looked over at his bed-side clock to see that it was ten.

"Aw geez it's ten, come on Twilight come on let's go get some breakfast."

Twilight nodded and they both got out of Carl's bed. Carl bent over and sighed before he stretched his arms out over his head and let out a huge yawn.

"Hey Carl, is it okay if I use your bathroom, I need to freshen up a bit."

Carl finished his yawn and nodded, "Yeah Twi, go right ahead."

Twilight smiled in gratitude and left the bedroom. A few seconds later Carl heard her scream at the top of her lungs, as if someone jumped out from behind something and scared the daylights out of her. Carl quickly ran out into the hallway to see if Twilight was okay.

"Twi, are you…?" he stopped when he saw what had frightened her. In the bath-tub, with that clichéd green facial mud on her face and cucumbers in her eyes, was Rarity. Carl had to do everything in his power not to burst out laughing at the sight, it was just too hilarious. Rarity removed one of the cucumbers with her hoof and looked at Twilight.

"Twilight, dear, can you please shut the door, I can feel a draft coming in." she waved her hoof towards the door.

"R-Rarity? Um, what are you….what are you doing?" Twilight asked. "And where did all of that cosmetic stuff come from?"

"Oh, this facial mud here? I found this in the cupboard over there" she said pointing to the cupboard that was directly underneath the sink. "I hope it isn't a problem Carl, I only used a little bit." She asked.

"It's not a big deal." Carl shrugged, "I mean, it's my mom's, but if she asks I'll say Lisa used it. That way you don't get in trouble, and she does. I love to mess with Lisa, it's awesome."

Rarity nodded and put the cucumber back over her eye, "Thank you dear." She lay herself back against the tub and let out a sigh. However, now Twilight had a very irritated look on her face. She wanted to freshen up, and it irked her that Rarity was hogging the bathroom like this.

"Um, _Rarity_, I kind of need to use the bathroom."

"A little longer Twilight, after all, you can't rush perfection."

Twilight roller her eyes and turned to walk out when Carl stopped her. She gave Carl a confused look but he just grinned down at her before he got onto one knee and whispered into her ear. She suddenly had a mischievous smile and walked back over to Rarity.

"Rarity, how much longer did you say it would be?"

"Mmmmm, perhaps another five, fifteen, no…thirty minutes? Forty? Well perhaps an hour would do."

"Yeah, I don't think so." With that Twilight closed her eyes and her horn began to glow. Slowly, Rarity was surrounded by a purple aura before being lifted out of the tub. The cucumber slices fell off and she opened her eyes to realize that she was levitating.

"AHHH! Twilight! Put me down!" she screamed, flailing around like a mad-pony, foam and water spraying everywhere. Twilight slowly levitated her over the open toilet that was right next to the tub, water dripping off of her fur and into the bowl. When Rarity saw this, she shrieked and Carl couldn't help but laugh like it was the single funniest thing that he'd ever seen.

"I'm sorry Rarity, how much longer is it going to be?"

"Twilight!"

"How much longer!"

"Five minutes, okay! Five more minutes, that's all I ask. Now please, get me away from that disgusting bowl of shame!"

The phrase "disgusting bowl of shame" sent Carl into such a laughing fit that he fell to the floor, clutching his sides as it felt like his ribs would break from laughing so hard. Twilight nodded and slowly brought Rarity back into the tub. Once back in the water, Rarity huffed and crossed her arms, "I hope you're happy, if I look like repulsive today I'm putting the blame on you."

Twilight shrugged it off and patiently waited as the queen to get done with her beauty soak in the tub. Carl looked down the hall at Lisa and Anna's rooms and tapped Twilight on the head.

"Hey Twi, I'm gonna go wake my sisters and Spike up."

Twilight nodded and Carl went off to Lisa's room. When he entered, he jumped back at the sight of Lisa and Spike sleeping right next to each other, Lisa's arm draped over Spike as if he were a stuffed animal.

"_D'awwwwwwwww." _Carl thought with a mocking tone as a mischievous grin, similar to Twilight's few moments before, grew onto his face. He took his phone out and quickly snapped a picture of the two.

"_This will come in handy when I need to convince Lisa to do something she doesn't want to, blackmailing is awesome."_ He smiled as he walked out of the room and purposely shut the door loud enough to wake both Lisa and Spike from their slumber. As they slowly came to and saw, they noticed the position that they had slept in. They looked at each other, eyes wide in horror.

"Spike, um….why are you so close to me?" Lisa asked nervously.

Spike, with a similarly nervous look replied, "I-I don't know…why is your arm on me?"

The quickly drew back and looked away from each other, turning beet red and rubbing the back of their heads in embarrassment. Both were breathing deep and fast, as if they had run a marathon.

"Errrr…" Lisa began, but couldn't bring herself to say anything more.

"Uhhhh…." Spike replied. Eventually, they calmed down enough to look back at each other without blushing. Lisa pointed at Spike and gave him a stern, yet still embarrassed, look.

"This moment never happened, got it Spike?" Lisa asked.

Spike mimicked a zipper going across his mouth to show that his lips were sealed about the matter.

Soon, everyone was up and downstairs in the kitchen eating a quick breakfast. Spike was talking with Lisa and Anna, and Twilight and Rarity were going on about some girly stuff. Carl, meanwhile, was still mulling over who and where Louis Clarkson was. Twilight noticed Carl's face that was stuck in a "pondering" expression.

"Carl, what are you thinking about?" Twilight asked.

"I'm trying to figure out where I'll find Louis." Carl said.

"Well try and hurry up Carl, I feel absolutely dreadful waiting to meet him when everypony else has met their partners." Rarity complained.

"I'm trying Rarity; do you think it's that simple? We've been lucky with the other four being my friends or people I've actually heard of. But this is someone that I don't ever remember meeting. Besides, we're doing our best in our search. It's not like the name is going to pop up out of thin air."

"Found him." Lisa muttered as she tossed the newspaper at Carl as it partially landed in his bowl of cereal. Carl looked up at her with a shocked expression. She simple shrugged and pointed at the newspaper. "Page three, Louis Clarkson there's an article on him."

Carl sighed and picked the newspaper up off of the table, some milk dripping from the corner that had landed in Carl's cereal. He also noticed that it was not the entire paper; rather it was the sports section. He opened it up to the third page to see a large, blown-up image of an African-American teen wearing a red and white soccer jersey that says _"Cardinals"_ and was number 10_._ The title under the name says, "ST. MARY'S STAR PLAYER COMMITS TO NORTH CAROLINA".

Carl kept reading and his eyes widened, "Holy cow it is him."

"That's Louis?" Twilight asked, peering over his shoulder.

"Yeah; no wonder I've never heard of him. He goes to a completely different school."

"He does?" Anna asked, "but I thought you said that all six of you were from going to be from Wilmont."

"No he is from Wilmont; he just goes to the local private school instead of the public school that the rest of us go to. That's why I didn't know who he was."

"Carl, may I see him?" Rarity asked; her eyes wide with excitement. Carl nodded and handed the newspaper over to her. She took it with her magic and looked at Louis' picture. Her excited face quickly became even more so as she saw who she would most likely be partnered with, and how attractive she found him to be.

"Oh wow, he's so…._handsome_." she said in a dreamy way that made Spike turn red in envy.

"Let me see that." Spike said before he grabbed the newspaper away and looked at Louis' picture.

Once done, he tossed it to the ground with a fake lack of impression.

"Pfft. He's not so cool." He said as he rolled his eyes. Carl couldn't help but chuckle at how obvious his jealousy was. Carl grabbed the paper from Spike and opened it back to the article.

"Rarity, do you want to know more about him?"

"Oh yes! Definitely!" She said with an enthusiastic grin, leaning forward on the table with interest.

"Okay, here's a little bit of the article."

Carl cleared his throat and began. (Note; this is all fake as far as school names etc. There is a Section III for sports in NY, but there is no real St. Mary's Holy Catholic Academy that this is referencing.)

"_Louis Clarkson, a rising senior at St. Mary's Holy Catholic Academy, has just committed a year early to The University of North Carolina's soccer team for the 2013-2014 academic year. He was named to the All-State soccer team earlier this year after leading his team to victory in the Section III Championship, and then to the State Semi-Finals, where St. Mary's lost 2-0. Clarkson currently lives with his Aunt and Uncle as his parents were killed overseas while they were doing charity work in Somalia. To this day, people will see Clarkson point to the sky after each goal and victory that his team has in honor of his parents."_

Carl stopped reading and looked up. Rarity's eyes were wide and her mouth hung open, "H-his parents died?"

"I guess so."

"What is it with this place?" Spike asked. "It seems like everyone is either getting bullied, has dead parents or parents that are abusive."

"Most families don't have these issues; it's just us elements for some reason." Carl said with a small chuckle. "So I think we should pay Mr. Clarkson a little visit, eh?"

Everyone nodded. And Carl turned to his sisters.

"Lisa, Anna, Spike; you three stay here. If the Princess sends any more letters, call me and tell me what she says."

They all nodded and Carl turned to Twilight and Rarity, "Girls, we're going to go to the park. The article said how he always plays pick-up games there with his friends, so maybe he's down there now."

The ponies nodded and Carl stood up, "Okay, I'm going to call Alex and Pete to see if they want to come."

"What about James?" Rarity asked. Carl didn't look up, he just sighed and shook his head, "He can't today; he has some…family problems. That reminds me I've got to call him to make sure everything is okay."

_RING RING_

Carl looked down at his pocket as his phone began to ring. He quickly reached into his pocket and, without looking to see who was calling, he answered.

"Hello?"

"_Hey dude, it's Ryan. What are you guys doing today?"_

"Hey, um, we're going to get the Element of Generosity. I think we found him."

"_Okay, we're coming with you."_

"Ryan you and Rainbow Dash have to stay at your house, if you leave Discord's men are going to…"

Carl stopped when he heard a quick conversation going on between Ryan and a raspy-voiced girl, obviously Rainbow Dash, before a few more noises were heard that indicated that someone else was now on the other end.

Or somepony else, and she was not pleased.

"_Carl, this is Rainbow Dash."_

"Fantastic. Good to know when Ryan doesn't want to argue with me, he puts you up for it." Carl muttered with disdain.

"_Look here Carl; we are bored out of our minds. Do you have any idea what it's like for a Pegasus to be cooped up in a house most of the day! Let alone me!"_

"Look Rainbow Dash you…"

"_No one is looking for us! If they were don't you think they would have come after us yesterday! We've been patient and today we need to get out, now!"_

Carl rubbed his temples, "All right, fine. You can come with us today. I'll call you to let you know when to meet at the mall. First we need to get Louis."

"_Who?" _Rainbow Dash asked.

"The Element of Generosity."

**James' House**

James finally woke up at around eleven O'clock with his t-shirt drenched in sweat and tears from both the night before, and his sleep, as his dreams were filled with sadness and horrors. The memory of getting the call from his Aunt; when she told him that Caroline had died returned with a vengeance. This thought pained him terribly and he wanted to cry until he felt something warm and furry stir next to him. He looked to his left and saw Fluttershy pressed up against his side, with her forelegs wrapped around him.

Her eyes were closed and she breathed softly while she slept. James still felt horrible about Caroline, but whenever he laid eyes on Fluttershy's cute face he couldn't help but feel a little better. He tapped her on the shoulder which caused her to wake up.

"Hm…oh James. I'm sorry did I wake you up?"

"No Fluttershy." James said weakly, "No I was already up."

"Oh," she said as she looked away from James for a second before sighing, "James, I'm so sorry about your cousin. It's so…so…" suddenly Fluttershy shut her eyes and began to cry. James wrapped his arms around her, as it was now time for him to comfort her.

"Shh, shh, it's okay." As he said this, he slowly began to cry as well, realizing that he was in no state to be comforting anyone, he looked away to hide his crying from Fluttershy, but she knew.

"James, I know it hurts you. It even hurts me, and I just met her yesterday. I just wish I could do something to make you feel better." She whispered to him, rubbing his back as she cried.

"Thanks Fluttershy," James said with a sniffle, "you're a great friend. And your being here for me has helped me feel better."

Fluttershy looked up at James and smiled weakly at him.

At that point, James' phone rang. He slowly broke the hug and answered.

"Hello?"

"_Hey man how are you doing today?" _Carl asked on the other end.

James wiped his nose on his wrist and sniffled. "I've been better."

"_I'm really sorry about what happened, James."_

"Thanks bro." James said with a depressed tone.

"_Listen, I found the last element and we're going to get him. I called to tell you to stay home for the day with Fluttershy."_

"A-are you sure?"

"_Yeah dude, unless you're up for it. I don't want to pressure you into doing anything you don't want to, especially now after what happened to Caroline."_

James closed his eyes and sighed. He really did want to come to help out his friends, but he knew that he needed a day to grieve so he answered, "Yeah I'll stay home, I mean, unless you need me…"

"_We're good man, thanks though. I'll call you back later after we get him."_

"Word Carl."

"_All right man, stay strong."_

"I will."

"_Okay see you."_

"Bye." James muttered as he hung up. He sat back on the bed and rubbed the last bit of sleep from his eyes.

"Was that Carl?" Fluttershy asked and James nodded.

"Yeah, he told me to take a day off if I wanted."

"I think a day off will do you some good."

James nodded, "Yeah, but Caroline is still dead. No amount of rest can change that."

Fluttershy looked up at James, "Why don't we go out?"

James looked back, "I'm not sure if that's a good idea, after all, Twilight's spell isn't in effect for you so if people saw you, they'd see a pony."

Fluttershy nodded, "Yeah that's probably for the best, besides, we can find something to do here, right?"

"Right." James said when he heard voices downstairs. He could tell that Patrick was home for the day and, therefore, his parents would be gushing about all of his accomplishments, which would drive James insane.

"You know what, let's go on that hike." He said.

"Really?"

James nodded, "Come on, let's go in the woods behind my house, no one will see us there."

**Pete's House**

Pete had just gotten the text from Carl to stay home because he would pick him and Pinkie up later when they found the last element. He was outside on his porch, watching as some birds flew by chasing some insects that were buzzing around.

In the chair next to him was Pinkie Pie, who was looking up at the clouds in the sky. Every now and then she'd point to one and said what she thought it looked like.

"Oh! Oh! Pete! That one! Right there! It looks like a giant cupcake!"

"Which one?"

"That one!" she said, pointing with more emphasis at one of the clouds that did, in fact, look a bit like a cupcake. "See! There's the cake, and there's the frosting!"

"Oh yeah, ha-ha that's great."

Pinkie pointed to another cloud that was close to the "cupcake". "And that one, right there, looks like a BIG, hungry pony, that's ready to eat the cupcake! Mmmm…" she rubbed her stomach and licked her lips as if she ate the cupcake herself and thoroughly enjoyed it.

"Actually, that pony cloud looks a lot like you." Pete said quietly. Pinkie looked at the cloud again; her eyes were squinted with intense focus before she smiled in agreement again.

"Oh yeah, I see that! It even has my poofy mane!"

Pete sighed and sat up, "Hey Pinkie, before we go, do you want to eat? I have some cupcakes in the fridge, if you're interested."

"YAY!" she said, jumping into the air with pure excitement on her face before sprinting off into the house.

Pete chuckled a bit before he followed her. Once inside, he grabbed a plate and gave her the cupcake from the fridge. "Here you go Pinkie."

"Thank you Pete!" she said happily before she leaned back, mouth wide open, and ate the cupcake in one bite. Pete's mouth hung open at the sight. Even though it should have been expected, she was a cartoon pony after all; it was a shock to see such an act done in reality.

"Awwww, it's gone." Pinkie said sadly.

But looking at her face and mannerisms made Pete chuckle, then laugh harder, until he was soon leaning over the table, laughing the hardest that he had in years.

"Pete are you okay?" Pinkie asked.

Pete calmed himself down and wiped a tear of laughter away, "Yeah I am, you're just so….random."

Pete continued to laugh and soon Pinkie did as well. Pete was finally opening himself up and felt less like a wall-flower and more like how he was before everything changed for him. And he owed it all to Pinkie.

But she was far from done changing his life.

**Wilmont Park- Afternoon (around 11)**

"Hey Gregors; pass me the ball!" shouted the six-foot two-inch, pumped up, soon to be Division I athlete that was Louis Clarkson. Louis was playing a four v. four soccer game against some of his classmates from the year before. His eyes showed steely determination as the ball was passed to him. He trapped the ball and then began to sprint with it down the field, weaving in and out; juking two of his friends so badly that they lost their balance and fell over. He then passed it off to another one of his friends and sprinted towards the goal for a cross.

The player with the ball crossed it high into the air so that Louis could get his head on it. He leapt at the same time as the goalie. The only difference was that he jumped at least half a foot higher than the goalie. His head made contact and the fall smashed into the net with force that most players wish their feet had.

As he landed, looked up, and saw the ball in the goal, he pumped his fist in victory and pointed to the sky as he did whenever he scored, real game or not.

"Hell yeah! That's my boy Louis right there!" shouted his friend Alan Gregors.

"All in a day's work!" he shouted before high-fiving Alan and clapping his hands excitedly.

Meanwhile, in a parking space near the soccer field, Carl had parked his car and was now watching the pick-up game with Alex, Applejack, Rarity, and Twilight. They had all seen the goal; and their mouth were all hanging open in astonishment at Louis' soccer skills.

"Holy Mother of God." Alex muttered.

"He's UNC bound man, what did you expect?" Carl asked as he bit his nails in anxiety, all though he was also impressed by Louis' skills on the field.

"I…I…wow." Is all Alex could say, "but wait, since he is the Element of Generosity, does that mean he's a brony too? I mean, all of us so far have been."

"I guess so." Carl said without taking his eyes off of the Element.

"If he is, he is as far from the stereotype as anyone could possible get."

"What do ya mean stereotype?" Applejack asked.

"When I imagine a brony I see a nerdy white kid who doesn't do a lot of sports. Not a six-foot African-American all-star soccer player who looks like he can lift me up with one hand."

"Wow, racist much Alex?" Carl asked teasingly

"No! Dude, I'm not a racist, I'm just observant. Could you really see a guy like him sitting at his computer watching My Little Pony?"

Carl thought about this for a second. Suddenly, the mental image of Louis Clarkson staring wide-eyed at the computer, vomiting rainbows as he watched my little pony came up. Carl had to restrain laughter from thinking about it.

"True, but don't be so quick to stereotype someone because of his skin-color. That'll get you into a shit-load of trouble with people who don't know you."

"Carl, should we go out there now?" Rarity asked with an excited grin.

Carl nodded, "Yeah, but listen, you and Twilight do this by yourselves and ask him to meet you two at the mall in an hour, but don't say anything about us being there with you."

"Why?"

"He'll be more interested if two girls he doesn't know ask him to the mall than if a group of people that includes guys that he doesn't know invited him." Carl said before turning to Twilight, "Use your spell so he thinks you're Tara and Raquel."

"Got it." Twilight said as her horn had the familiar purple glow for a few seconds and then it faded. "We're all set."

"Good. Now go get him and, oh Twilight!" Carl said as she began to get out of the car, opening both doors using her magic. She stopped and turned around to face Carl. "I almost forgot, check him to see if he's the element while you're there, but don't tell him anything until we go to the mall."

"Carl I know what to do, if you don't remember I'm very organized." She said with a wink and a cocky smile before exiting the car, along with Rarity.

Applejack and Alex leaned forward from the back seat.

"Do ya think he'll agree ta meet us?" Applejack asked.

"He'd better; otherwise you can go buck him AJ." Carl replied, not taking his eyes off of Louis, still biting his nails anxiously as he leaned back in his seat.

Down on the field, Louis was about to take a corner kick on the side of the field that was closest to the parking lot, when another one of his friends called him.

"Hey Louis! Looks like you got some hot biddies coming your way!"

Louis turned around to see Twilight and Rarity heading his way, and, as with every other case before him, he only saw two stunning, teenage, human girls heading his way. His friends began to whistle and holler flirtatious phrases at the girls as Louis simply grinned before he walked over to them.

"Hello ladies." She said in a very flirtatious way that made both girls giggle.

"Are you Louis Clarkson?" Twilight asked.

"Ah I see you've been reading the newspapers recently." Louis said as he extended his hand to be shaken. "Yes, I am Louis Clarkson, future captain of the North Carolina Tarheels Soccer team."

"I'm Tara and this is my friend Raquel." Twilight said, gesturing to Rarity, who gave a small wave and batted her eyelashes in a very animated way that made Louis' face turn red.

"It's an absolute pleasure to meet you Louis." Rarity said as she "shook" Louis' hand.

"Listen, we were wondering if you wanted to meet us at the mall in an hour for lunch." Twilight asked and Louis chuckled.

"Yeah, of course." He said and shrugged, "I should be done here by then. Do you want to meet in the food-court?"

"Yep, that sounds perfect." Twilight said as Rarity just kept staring.

"Great! Well, we'll see you two there." Louis said with an excited smile.

"Wait, Louis, could you hold still a moment?" Twilight asked, doing her usual head-to-chest ritual that caused everyone on the soccer field to start hurling sexual statements, and everyone in Carl's car to burst into laughter.

Twilight backed away from Louis, who was blushing, but smiled. "I see that you're really into me." Louis said.

Twilight smiled, "See you at the mall."

With that the two girls waved and walked back towards the car. Louis turned to make the corner kick, "Hey guys, here it comes, look alive out there I want this ball in the net!"

With that, he ran up and booted the ball brilliantly right to one of his friend's heads so he was able to score.

On the way back to the car, Carl watched as Twilight whispered something to Rarity. After this, Rarity suddenly jumped for joy and strutted back to the car with her eyes closed and a huge grin on her muzzle.

Carl smiled and gave a small nod, "We have found the Element of Generosity."

**Ryan's House**

There was absolutely nothing to do for Ryan and Rainbow Dash in Ryan's house as they waited for Carl's text, so they sat at the couch and did nothing but watch television and eat junk food from the pantry. Ryan had his phone on vibrate so Carl could tell him when and where to meet.

"Ryan, I was thinking," Rainbow Dash said after swallowing a potato chip, "when do you want to tell everypony that we're….you know, a couple?"

Ryan shrugged, "I'm not sure. I mean, I don't have a problem telling Carl and those guys. After all I don't care what they think about us."

"What about your parents?"

Ryan sighed and shook his head, "I don't know. I don't think that they're going to like it."

Rainbow Dash saw how stressed out Ryan was now and scooted closer to him and rested her head onto his shoulder, "Is it because I'm a pony, isn't it?"

"And I'm a human, yes." Ryan muttered, closing his eyes, "But when I do tell them, and if they don't approve of it, I don't care. I'm not going to stop being your boyfriend because of it."

Rainbow Dash nuzzled against Ryan's shoulder. "Thanks Ryan, I'm glad I mean that much to you."

Ryan felt a little better now. Having her beside him always made him feel better. It was just like in the show. Whenever she was on it, he would suddenly feel happy and comforted. As he looked into her eyes and imagined that somewhere out in the vast number universes and dimensions that she existed, he would be happy. Now that she was here, Ryan's feeling of wanting something more that accompanied his romantic's personality went away. He felt like he was complete, like he didn't have the desire for "something more" any longer, and that was a feeling he had ever since he was very young. This also made Ryan thrilled because it proved that his love for Rainbow Dash was pure love rather than just a "you want something that you can't have" kind of relationship that usually ended in heartbreak and hatred.

No, he would never leave Rainbow Dash's side, and she would never leave his. They were equals; both sources of comfort for one another when the other needed it. It wasn't male dominated or female dominated, it was completely mutual, how a relationship should be.

That's the thing that made them both the happiest about their relationship, even if it was only about a day old.

_BUZZ BUZZ_

Ryan took his phone out of his pocket and saw that he got a text from Carl.

"_Meet at mall in 45 minutes."_

Ryan quickly replied with a_ "k" _and pocketed his phone.

"Duty calls Dashie, come on let's clean up and go out to the truck."

She nodded and lazily got up from the couch, crumbs dropping onto the cushion.

"Oh great." she muttered as she began to sweep the crumbs off of the couch into one hoof with the other.

"Hang on Dashie, let me help you." Ryan said as he began to brush the couch cushion off.

"I've got it." She said stubbornly as she swept faster so Ryan would have less. She then looked up with a smile, "I'll race ya to the kitchen!"

"You know you're going to beat me." Ryan muttered.

"You'll never know if you don't try!"" she said with a big grin. "Besides, I'll run so it'll be a little fairer."

Ryan sighed, "All right, fine."

"Okay, ready, set, go!"

They both ran off to the kitchen, which was down the hall. Ryan eventually saw her sprint by him with unbelievable speed and he knew there was no way that he'd win, and he was right.

Once she was in the kitchen she flew up off the ground with her hooves in the air in triumph.

"Ha! I won; the fastest flier in Equestria has won! I beat you!" Rainbow Dash said with a cocky smile.

"You sure did Dashie." Ryan said with a chuckle.

She then looked at Carl, her competitive face melting a bit into a soft, happy one. "No, Carl, you're supposed to say "you got lucky"."

Ryan looked at her confused and she smiled, "In a playful way of course. But you don't need to completely give me a victory that's no fun. Say "I want a rematch later" or something." She added.

Ryan shrugged. "You'd probably beat me anyway."

Rainbow Dash then grabbed Ryan by the collar of his shirt and pulled his face to her own, which had a pleading expression on it, "No, Ryan look. You have to be a little cocky sometimes; this is what I'm trying to tell you now. Tell me that you want a rematch later."

"But.." Ryan began but when he saw Rainbow Dash scowl at him he sighed. "Fine, I want a rematch later." He muttered.

Rainbow Dash smirked, "Um, what was that?"

"I want a rematch later." Ryan said a little louder.

"What?" she asked as she put her hoof to her ear to emphasize how quiet Ryan was.

"I want a rematch!" he finally shouted.

"Are you sure that you can take me? After all I am the _awesome_ Rainbow Dash, the fastest flyer in all of Equestria! I can do anything! I can even run fast! I can defeat you with both wings tied _again_."

"Prove it then!" Ryan shouted as his face dropped. He suddenly realized how confident he sounded all of a sudden and it made him feel…good.

Rainbow Dash smiled at Ryan and hugged him. "You see? You just need some confidence in yourself."

Ryan smiled and hugged her back, "I do, thank you Dashie."

"No problem Ryan." She said right before she broke the hug and looked directly into his eyes, "but I _do_ want a re-match. And I _do_ want _you_ to believe that you can beat me."

"Deal." Ryan said with a small smile before they kissed one more time and headed out to the car.

Ryan's head was reeling. Rainbow Dash had just given him a lesson in confidence, something no girl on Earth would ever do. Most girls would just take advantage of his lack of confidence and use it so they had the upper hand in the relationship. But not Rainbow Dash. She was such a great friend, she loved Ryan so much, that she wanted him to become competitive with her.

As they got into the car, Ryan started to cry a little bit. Rainbow Dash noticed this and looked at him, "Ryan what's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said with a smile, "It's just nobody has ever done anything that nice for me in my life, besides maybe my parents."

Rainbow Dash smiled back, "No one loves you like I do Ryan, remember that. Now can we get going? I don't want any of my friends to see me this soft and mushy."

"Right, sorry." Ryan said with a chuckle as he turned his car on and drove off, Rainbow Dash' head still resting on his shoulder as they both hummed "Somewhere Over the Rainbow".

He was so happy that he didn't even notice a white van begin to follow him.

The driver of the white van, a middle-aged man who was balding and had a bushy beard, picked up the radio and spoke: "They just left."

**City Hall**

Brett sat at his desk with the radio as he got news about Ryan and Rainbow Dash leaving their house.

"Right, follow them and tell me where they go. And do not to anything until I get there." Brett muttered.

"_Got it Obscure; hail Discord."_

"Hail Discord."

**There you go, now all six elements are known. **

**I hope you enjoyed that Chapter, and I hope that the character devellopment is working out.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading nad hopefully Chapter 9 will be up soon.**

**Also, with Louis, let me know if I stereotype too much at all. I am trying not to, but just give me a heads up if it seems like I am.**

**Especially because it will be the most action-filled chapter so far.**

**Go Giants! Go Rainow Dash!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: ****The Chase**

**Finally, some excitement added to the story in the form of a chase scene.**

**This was pretty tricky to write up, as it isn't really a whole lot of action, just evasion and some conflict. **

**Again, I'd like to thank everyone who has read and reviewed this story so far, I greatly appreciate it.**

**I do not own anything other than my OCs. **

It was around one-thirty in the afternoon when everyone got to the mall. Alex and Applejack changed vehicles to Alex's car so he could go pick up Pinkie Pie and Pete at Pete's house. Ryan drove Rainbow Dash there, and Carl drove Twilight and Rarity in his car. Once again, they cast the spell so everybody who was not one of the elements saw them as humans. Except Louis, who they didn't want to freak out initially, so they made sure he only saw the mane six, or five in this case as Fluttershy wasn't present, as human girls. They wanted to "test the water" with Louis first to see if he was a brony, and to do that they needed to tell him the girl's real names without saying that they were from the cartoon. If he wasn't a brony, he wouldn't get it and just think the names were odd and wonder why they lied about their true names. But if he did know where the names were from, he'd most likely say something.

Or not, it was all relative on if he was the kind of person who didn't give a fuck what other people thought or if he wasn't.

All nine of the Elements sat, waiting for the arrival of Louis to the mall. In order to make room for everyone to sit together, they had to bring two tables together.

"So how long until he gets here?" Alex asked.

"I'm not sure man, be patient." Carl said before he too began to let his impatience somewhat of a hold on him. He looked at his watch to see how long it had been.

"Ugh I'm sooooo bored." Rainbow Dash complained as she pressed her chin into the table, using her forelegs to press down in her head. Ryan nudged her and she peeked over at him without lifting her head, "What?" she asked in a way that came out mumbled because of her chin being pressed against the table.

"Do you want to have a quick little competition while we wait?"

Rainbow Dash perked up and looked at Ryan with a competitive smirk, "So, you're finally feeling up to the challenge, eh?"

"Yep, but this isn't a race."

"A challenge is a challenge, I don't care what it is; I'm in." she said with a big grin as she pounded her chest proudly.

"All right, see these napkins here?" Ryan asked, pulling a napkin out of the dispenser.

"Yeah."

"What I want for us to do is to crumple these up, and try to toss them into the waste can over there." He said as he pointed to a black trash can behind him. Rainbow Dash nodded and leaned closer to Ryan.

"You're so on." With that, she spat into her hoof and stuck it out to Ryan. Ryan, in turn, spat onto his palm and shook her hoof in a way that her saliva-covered hoof met Ryan's saliva-covered hand. As they drew back and began to crumple up the napkins, Rainbow Dash doing quite well for not having hands, she giggled, "I thought you got grossed out by spit Ryan."

"I told you yesterday, when it's your spit I don't care." Ryan laughed, "Besides, it's not like I didn't have your tongue in my mouth the entire day."

Everyone at the table heard this and stopped what they were doing to turn and look at Ryan and Rainbow Dash, who were busy crumpling their napkins. When they both finished getting some napkins crumpled up, ready for tossing, they looked up and saw everyone staring at them in shock, except of course Applejack, who already knew about their relationship.

Ryan was blushing while trying to hide his embarrassment, but Rainbow Dash just laughed at this and put her foreleg around Ryan's shoulder to stand up for their love.

"Yep, you heard correctly, Ryan and I are dating and if you have a problem with that, well, let's just say you'll have a hard time walking tomorrow after I get through with you."

Ryan gave Rainbow Dash a _"thank you"_ smile and kissed her cheek, making her blush. Alex, who didn't know about this until now, suddenly broke out into a huge grin and held his hand out for Ryan to hi-five. Ryan high fived him and then Alex put his hand out for Rainbow Dash to hi-five as well, both Ryan and Rainbow Dash were confused about his apparent excitement over the news.

"Congrats you two." He laughed, "you two make a great couple."

"Um…thanks Alex." Ryan said, giving his friend a small smile.

"So you and Rainbow Dash are really dating?" Carl asked with a bit of a shaky voice. Ryan nodded as he recovered some confidence and was now not ashamed to profess his feelings in front of the others.

"Hell yeah we are, do you have a problem with that Carl, because Rainbow Dash here said…."

"No! No, I don't have a problem." Carl said nervously, holding his hand out for mercy, "I'm just surprised how fast your relationship started, as well as Alex's."

"Alex?" Ryan and Rainbow Dash both said in unison as they looked over to see Alex put his arm around Applejack who, in turn, kissed him on the cheek.

"That's right y'all, we love each other." Applejack said as she leaned her head on Alex's shoulder and closed her eyes.

"But you've only known each other for a day, how can you know that you're in love?" Carl asked.

"You weren't there last night when we talked at the park." Alex muttered with a smile, "I swear we communicated in that short time better than most people who are married ever do."

"But…I don't get it. Relationships never start that quick. Even when we were here yesterday you two were making out twenty minutes after arriving."

"Maybe it's because we connected better than most people here on Earth normally do, call it an honest case of love at first sight rather than the "love at first sight" that soon-to-be brides lie about to make themselves feel better before a wedding."

"Ya, not ta mention we ain't afraid to show our feelings fer each other." Applejack added, "Ah think that's why people in yer world don't act like we did yesterday, Carl. We ain't inta holdin' back none."

"That's true," Ryan said, "besides, Carl, you know that I've loved Rainbow Dash when I thought that she was just a fictional character, and Alex felt the same about Applejack. So it's not like we suddenly had these feelings as soon as we met them, it was because of the love we developed for them when watching the show."

Now it was time for the girls to speak up.

"And I liked Ryan so fast because he wasn't like other guys, and I got that within the first few minutes of meeting him. He isn't overly cocky, which is a bit of a weakness for him no doubt, but most stallions act so macho all of the time, that it was nice to meet an emotional, caring person that I can have a mutual respect for."

"Ah hear ya sugarcube." Applejack piped in with a smile, "after talkin' with Alex yesterday when he still thought I was human, ah knew he was a great guy. Not ta mention that he talked on and on about honesty and hard work and how much he values both. Naturally, ah felt a connection with him right then and there."

Carl sighed and rubbed his head. He had gotten over pretending to think it was weird for them to have these feelings, but we as still in disbelief about how fast their relationship was progressing. They only were together for a little while and they managed to accomplish a closeness that no other couple that he had ever seen in his life could match. Married couples of twenty plus years would envy the love that both partners in those relationships shared for each other.

Another strange thing was that both Alex and Ryan looked different, especially in their eyes. It was like ever since they were with their partners, they became happier and, strangely, more innocent in their attitude towards the world around them. Ryan seemed more confident, and Alex seemed more, well…vibrant. It was truly strange.

Meanwhile, Pete just listened to what they were talking about but didn't contribute anything. He was too busy worrying about saying something stupid. Honestly, the only person, rather pony, he felt comfortable around to actually be himself, was Pinkie Pie, simply because she was as random as he used to be.

As Ryan and Rainbow Dash gave each other an Eskimo kiss, Pinkie Pie smiled.

"Awwww that's so cute! You make such a great couple. And so do you Alex and AJ! Hey, maybe I should plan a party for you guys! Like a "happy trails for the new couples" shindig! Oh that would be so fun; I could make cake, cookies, and get some ice cream. I could get chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and cotton candy to match you Rainbow Dash!" she said, nearly bouncing in her seat. Pete chuckled a bit, forgetting his insecurities for a moment as Pinkie Pie's little display of joy reminded him why she was his favorite character on the show.

"Guys, don't forget, we're here to talk with Louis about his role in our group, not gossip about relationships." Carl muttered.

"I wish he would arrive soon, my hooves are starting to shake from my anxiety." Rarity said, looking down at her hooves with a blush on her face. "Oh I hope he likes me. How do I look? Did I overdo it?"

"You're fine Rarity; he's going to love you." Carl said in an attempt to calm her down.

"And look who finally arrived." Twilight whispered as everyone looked towards the entrance of the mall to see Louis walking in, now wearing a light-blue UNC t-shit and white and blue pair of shorts.

He was like a Gad-damned walking advertisement for the University.

As Louis saw the girls, his face lit up for a split second before he saw Carl, Alex and the other guys at the table. His expression fell and became calm and serious, with a hint of disappointment.

"That disappointed expression he has right now, in his face," Alex said, pointing to Louis with a small smile, "that's the look of Louis realizing that he's in the friend zone when he thought he was going to get laid."

Carl nodded and laughed at this statement by the oh-so-wise Alex Franco.

Louis walked over to the table and put his smile back on. He looked at Twilight and Rarity and nodded with a romantic look on his face, "What's up ladies?"

Rarity and Twilight smiled.

"Hello Louis." Twilight said flirtatiously with a small blush. And though Carl didn't want to admit it, watching her act so flustered by Louis' presence and "ladies man" attitude made him somewhat jealous.

Scratch that, he was seething on the inside from envy.

"Hi Louis, I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you I was bringing some friends." Rarity said, gesturing to the others.

"_Some_?" he said with a laugh, "God, some of the classes at St. Mary's have fewer people than this."

Louis took the only vacant seat, which was purposely right across from Rarity. Carl had it like this so they could talk about him being the element and her partner. But to Rarity, it just gave her another chance to gaze into his eyes.

"So what's up, why did you call me down here? Did you want an interview or did you just want to bask in my glory?" Louis said as he shot an arrogant and loving look at Rarity, who seemed to melt a bit at the gesture.

"We needed to talk to you about something important." Carl muttered, leaning in to look at Louis sternly.

"Okay, I'm listening. What did you want to talk about?" he asked with a lack of interest in talking to a guy rather than the two beautiful girls that went up to him at the park to ask him to lunch.

"You don't know it yet but you are one of six people who have been chosen to fight a great evil that is residing here in Wilmont."

Louis gave Carl a confused look, "So this is some sort of religious cult bullshit? Because, in case you didn't read the newspaper article close enough, I go to St. Mary's _Catholic_ Academy, so I'm all set with my faith."

"No, this isn't a religious meeting." Carl muttered, "This is something more serious than that."

"More serious than God?" Louis asked and Carl shrugged.

"At the moment it's more important than preaching about him."

Louis turned to give a blank look at both Twilight and Rarity. "Why the hell did you two tell me to meet you here?"

"Look, we aren't who you think we are Louis. Our names aren't Tara and Raquel."

Louis gaped, "Then what are they?"

"I'm Twilight Sparkle and this is Rarity."

Carl bit his lip and closed his eyes in anticipation, waiting for Louis to respond since his response would show if he was, in fact, a brony like the rest of the elements, or just some random person who was chosen by chance. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Louis burst out into laughter.

Everyone just stared at him, even some people who were at other tables that heard his bellowing looked over in disgust at his crude behavior. As he calmed himself down, he pointed at Twilight, "So you're Twilight? And you're Rarity?" he said, pointing at the two girls, who both nodded.

He grinned, "That's so cute. Role-playing as characters from My Little Pony?"

"Yep! And I'm Pinkie Pie, and here is Applejack and Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie shouted excitedly, causing some people nearby to look over at them like they were a group of mental patients.

Louis shook his head, still laughing, "Funny. Oh, this is too hilarious."

"So you are a brony?" Alex asked and Louis sighed before turning to Alex with a cocky smile.

"Okay, fine, you caught me. The big, badass soccer superstar is a closet brony. Do you know how many shits I give about a couple of role players and punks I don't know finding out about it?" Louis held his hand up his hand to show a "zero" shape with his thumb and middle finger.

"Yeah you don't care, that's why you're in the brony closet." Ryan muttered sarcastically, not looking up at Louis as he said it.

"Louis, please listen to us." Rarity said with a pleading look, "Nopony here is trying to mock you for being a brony; we just need your help because you're Earth's Element of Generosity."

Louis was about to laugh when he got caught staring into Rarity's expressive eyes that were beautiful to Louis, who saw them as very elegant human eyes.

"Louis! Look at me." Twilight said, making the boy turn to her and stare. Twilight put her hooves onto his shoulder and looked him square in the eye, "You have to believe us, we are really the Elements of Harmony and we all need your help."

Louis then pointed to the guys at the table, first at Carl, then sweeping his pointed finger at them all until they landed on Pete, who flinched as he saw Louis' finger directed at him. "And who the hell are they?"

"They're the other elements of Earth. You are the last one that we need before we have all six. So please, don't disregard us as some kids pulling a prank on you."

Carl tapped Louis on the shoulder, making him turn around.

"Louis, Discord is here in Wilmont and we need you to help us defeat him before he brings this town into a deeper hell than it is right now."

"Carl." Twilight muttered. Carl looked up at her.

"What is it Twi?"

She pointed her hoof timidly towards the entrance, as if she didn't want the person who she was pointing to see her do it. "We might have a little problem."

Carl looked over his shoulder to see about twelve men in black suits walking towards them.

"Don't look at them, they'll see you.'" Twilight muttered, grabbing Carl and turning him back to face her.

"Who the hell are they?" he asked.

"I don't know about most of them, but that one in the front is one of Discord's henchmen. Trust me; I can see him for who he really is. He's a unicorn in disguise as a human."

"Does that mean he can see you guys too?" Ryan asked nervously.

"Let's not say ta find out." Applejack said.

"Okay everybody, get up and calmly start walking further into the mall." Carl said. They began to stand up, trying to act as relaxed and calm as possible, which was more difficult than it sounded. Ryan and Rainbow Dash both tossed their crumpled napkins at the trashcan, and, of course Ryan missed his shot and Rainbow Dash sunk hers.

"Got it." She whispered smugly at Ryan before sticking her tongue out at him. Ryan rolled his eyes before picking up the napkin and throwing it out. It may have been an emergency situation, but Rainbow Dash wouldn't let that get in her way of finishing a competition.

They threw out the rest of the napkins, food and everything else at the table and headed off, the group of men following only about thirty feet behind them.

"May I ask what's going on?" Louis asked, somewhat annoyed at the situation.

"We're being followed." Alex whispered.

"That's just _fantastic_." Louis muttered.

"Now what do we do?" Twilight asked Carl.

"We split up and go in separate directions. We'll meet back at the cars as soon as possible, Alex and I will need to find a way to get outside and to the cars. But right now our main priority should be to evade these fuckers." Carl said before turning to the others. "Listen to me and don't look back at them, otherwise they'll know that we know about them following us. Everyone evade them by any means possible and get out to the cars. We'll meet up at my house, understand everyone and everypony?"

Everyone nodded, except for Louis who shook his head, "I still have no fucking idea what's going on."

"Just go with Rarity, okay superstar soccer man?" Carl muttered in a condescending way before Louis shot him an angry glare. Regardless, he nodded as he didn't want to argue any more with this kid that clearly belonged in an asylum.

"So get out of the mall and meet back at my house, break."

And the group split up into four groups of two, each group representing an element.

Carl and Twilight began to walk relatively quickly, but not so fast that they drew attention to themselves as they maneuvered through the mass of people.

"Twilight, can you tell me if those guys in suits split up without turning around to check?"

Twilight nodded and closed her eyes, her horn glowed. After the glow went away, she opened her eyes and looked back up at Carl with worry.

"It looks like two men are following each group, except us."

"How many are following us?"

"Four."

"Shit." Carl hissed in aggravation before looking down at Twilight, "Twilight, can we split up and meet back at the table in the food court ten minutes?"

She nodded, "Yeah, I remember where it is, and I could probably lose two people."

Carl nodded, "Okay, and, only use your magic if absolutely necessary."

She nodded and once they reached a "fork" in the mall, they split up, Twilight went down the right-hand side and Carl went down the left.

Brett and the three other men who were following split up into two groups of two. Brett and one other man went after Twilight, while the other two went after Carl.

Carl frantically began to search for a good store to hide in. Someplace big enough to find a place to hide until the men went away. Soon, he came up on a very large video and gaming store that had the windows that surrounded its entrance covered in movie posters as well as posters promoting the new Call of Duty game that was going to come out soon. Without hesitation, he walked in, the two other men right on his heels.

Now, what he forgot was that this store was so big that it actually was on the other side of the fork as well, so as Twilight was trotting, trying to remain inconspicuous, she saw the video and gaming store that Carl had gone into. Because of how big it was and thinking that losing her pursuers would be easy in it, she went in, unintentionally ruining the plan to "split up".

**Ryan and Rainbow Dash**

Ryan and Rainbow Dash had two men following them at this point. They were walking down a very wide section of the mall that ended in a very large sport's store. That had some mannequins in the front that wore the newest sports gear, like Under Armor and football pads, as well as gear that promoted different teams in New York, such as the Bills, Giants, Sabers, and Yankees.

"Let's hide in there." Rainbow Dash whispered to Ryan.

"The Sport's store?" Ryan asked and Rainbow Dash nodded. "That's ironic." Ryan muttered, thinking about Rainbow Dash's athleticism. Regardless, they both went in. They kept walking through the store until they found the fitting rooms. He looked over his shoulder quickly to see that the two men seemed to have lost sight of them for the time being due to the clothes and other obstacles that they put in-between them and the men.

Ryan tapped her on the shoulder. "Quick; in there."

They both ran over to an open fitting room and, thankfully without anyone noticing, slipped in and shut the door. Once inside, Ryan locked the door and they both got back against the mirror on the wall that people looked into when trying clothes on, and began to breathe heavily.

"What do we do now?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"We wait, Dashie." Ryan said with a sigh as he kissed her forehead to comfort her and she nuzzled him in return.

Like Rainbow Dash had said, it was a mutual relationship.

**Louis and Rarity**

Rarity and Louis were currently being followed by two other men. Though Rarity was getting nervous, she knew that she had to stay strong and calm for the befuddled Louis as she dragged him into a clothing department store.

Inside, there were clothes everywhere. Clothes that lined the walls, clothes that hung on rows of hangars, and clothes on display on the plastic bodies of mannequins.

"_Oh my, so many clothes, this place is magical!"_ Rarity thought as she felt like she was in her own personal heaven. She soon shook that thought away and returned to her focus of finding a place to hide.

"Louis, do you know anywhere that we can hide?" she whispered.

"What? No, look "Rarity" I don't…"

"There's no time for this." She groaned before she shoved Louis into one of the circular, rotating clothes hangers. Once inside, they were hidden from sight behind the wall of clothes that hung around them, mostly dresses.

Rarity got down and stared at Louis straight in the eyes, "Louis, I am about this close to losing it and you aren't helping one bit, so I want you to calm down and tell me that you'll do what I say, when I say if because that might become necessary if we want to elude the people chasing us."

"Yeah, okay." Louis nodded in fear. He was still skeptical, but he wasn't about to see what this girl would be like when she was freaked out.

**Pete and Pinkie**

"Why are they following us?" Pinkie whispered to Pete as they hid in one of the dressing rooms at the clothing department store, unaware that Rarity had just taken Louis to hide in there as well.

"I don't know, probably because of Discord." Pete muttered.

"Oh I don't have a good feeling about this." Pinkie said, shaking a bit in fear. Pinkie then got onto her knees and peered out from under the door, as there was about a foot space in-between the door and the carpeted ground.

"Do you see anything?" Pete asked.

"Oh my gosh!" Pinkie gasped.

"What is it?" Pete asked with worry.

"There's a guy with _really_ weird hair over there."

"What?" Pete asked with some anger at her clear lack of seriousness for the situation.

"It's all spiky and green. I didn't think humans could have green hair." she said, looking back at Pete.

"We can't it probably was dyed or something, Pinkie come on we don't have time for this."

Pinkie nodded, "Right, I'll tell you if those meanies show up again." She said with a big grin before peeking back out into the store. Pete smacked his head with his hand.

"_Geez, is everything in life a game to her?"_

**Alex and Applejack**

Alex and Applejack were looking for places to hide when Alex decided to take a rise and look behind him to see if they were still being followed. This was a big mistake, because as soon as they two men saw him look at them, they began to run towards the two.

"Shit! AJ run!" Alex shouted as both he and Applejack began to sprint away. The mall was pretty packed, so naturally, the two fleeing elements of honesty had to push and shove their way through everyone.

"Get out of the way!" shouted one of the men as he tried to catch up to the two. "Somebody stop those two!"

Alex and Applejack were starting to put a nice distance between them and the other two men when suddenly a bystander who was just coming out of a shoe store heard the men calling for them. Thinking that Alex and Applejack were shoplifters, he ran up and grabbed Applejack's foreleg, or arm to him, and stopped her.

"Hold on, there little missy."

"Let go of me ya varmint!" Applejack shouted before she managed to pull her leg out of the man's grasp before she pushed the man into a nearby fountain out of frustration.

Alex just noticed that Applejack wasn't running with him anymore and turned around to see what had happened. He ran back to help her when the two suited men finally caught up to her and grabbed her arms. As she fought against them, Alex sprinted in a b-line at one of the men that was pulling out a gun and pointing it at Applejack.

"Hey, let go of her you motherfuckers!" Alex shouted right before he tackled one of the men into the same fountain that the other bystander who tried to stop Applejack was in, shaking off the shove that Applejack had given him. As Alex and the man wrestled in the water, Applejack socked the other man with her hoof so hard that she broke his nose and knocked him out cold onto the tiled, mall floor right in front of dozens of shocked bystanders.

Meanwhile, in the water Alex and the other man struggled. Alex could feel himself swallowing some water as he fought with the man. A few seconds later Applejack tackled the man into the water and began to pummel him with her hooves, which gave Alex his freedom. He tiredly swam to the ledge to get his bearings, blood and water dripping from his nose and mouth into the fountain-water. His chest hurt from gagging up the water that had snuck its way into his lungs and now needed to escape.

All in all, he felt as if a train had hit him head on, but when he looked back to the brawl between his marefriend and the last, conscious man, he saw them rolling around in the water, throwing punches at one another. His eyes widened in horror when he saw Applejack get pinned underwater by the man, who kept pushing her down in an attempt to drown her. She kept kicking as she held her breath, face clearly turning read under the water.

"Hey…" Alex spat, finally coming to and getting his strength back when he shouted with pure rage at the man who was trying to kill the one he loved, "Let her go!"

In a flash, the man was lifted off of Applejack by some magical force, which was an orange aura that Alex was controlling. His hands and arms also shone a similar orange aura that matched the aura around the man. Alex's eyes went wide when he saw what he was doing.

"Whoa." Alex muttered as he held the man up. Applejack, after finally getting some fresh air, saw the man levitating above the fountain in the orange light. Grinning, she used this opportunity to turn around and buck the man in the waist, sending him flying onto the mall floor in front of several shoppers that jumped back in fright. She waded over to the edge of the fountain to see the man knocked out, and people staring at them with wide eyes, either whispering to one another or using their cell-phones to record what had just happened.

Alex was still standing in shock as the orange aura around his hands disappeared.

But he got another shock when he suddenly felt Applejack throw her forelegs around him in a tight, and by tight I mean _very tight_, hug.

"Alex, yer okay. Thank ya fer savin' me."

"Thanks for saving me AJ." Alex said with a relieved smile as he finally noticed everyone staring at them in astonishment.

"Maybe we should get the car now."

"Yea, that sounds like a good plan." Applejack said with a chuckle as she coughed a little bit more water up. Alex hugged her and they both headed off towards the exit.

**Carl**

Carl was still in the video and gaming store, looking for someplace to hide from his two pursuers. So far he had done a good job not making it clear that he knew he was being followed. Eventually, he succeeded in evading his pursuers by hiding behind a cardboard cutout of an alien character from the new sci-fi movie that was being released onto DVD that week. He watched as the men who were looking for him got frustrated and ran out of sight to look somewhere else. He gave a sigh of relief and was about to relax when he heard Twilight scream nearby.

"Hey! Let go of me! Help!" she shouted, trying to use her magic, but for some reason it was not working.

"Shut up." He heard one of the men say. Carl quickly stood up and walked over to where he heard the voices coming from. He saw Twilight being lifted into the air by a man that Carl didn't know at that moment, but would eventually know all too well. This man was Brett. He and the other three men surrounded Twilight with looks on their faces.

"I think you're all alone on this one Twilight." Brett said as he pulled out a gun, as did the rest of the men so that the people at the store would be too scared to help her. But only that, but Brett cast a spell to make other people in the store carry on with their shopping, oblivious to what was happening.

But that didn't stop Carl from doing something. He stood up and walked closer to the group of men and Twilight and shouted, "Hey!"

They turned to look at Carl, and upon seeing the teenager's face, Brett grinned.

"It looks like the fun's just about to start." He muttered. He put Twilight down so the other men could watch her. He began to walk over to Carl. "So you're one of the elements of Harmony for Earth?" Carl nodded and Brett let out an arrogant chuckle.

"You seriously think that you six humans and your little pony friends can defeat Discord?"

"They beat him last time, so yes, I know we can." Carl spat.

"Do you?" Brett asked with fake pondering.

"Yes. Now let her go before I make you."

"I would, kid, but we have direct orders from Discord himself to take you to him….and kill them." He said; gesturing to Twilight, whose eyes suddenly lit up in pure fear. "You see, he knows that he cannot corrupt them due to their purity, so they must die. You and your little human friends, on the other hand, have been corrupted already and I just need to take you in so, please cooperate and I promise that Twilight's death will be quick and painless."

"You won't touch her." Carl spat with a seething anger. "I'll kill you before you get the chance."

Brett smiled and nodded, "I think you underestimate my power kid. For you see, like your little pony friend here, I am not a weak little human."

Carl bit his lip as he watched Brett close his eyes and his forehead begin to glow a dark black color, "as you can see…" he slowly transformed into Obscure Darkness right before Carl's eyes. "…I am a unicorn. My name is Obscure Darkness, and if you don't surrender now, you'll learn to fear my name."

Carl didn't know what to do; he knew that he couldn't take a unicorn with his magic. After all, he wasn't experienced with his own skills and Obscure was. He noticed that no one seemed frightened that a cartoon unicorn was currently in the store.

"And as you can see, I, like your friend Twilight Sparkle, can pick and choose who I show my true form to." He said with a grin. "But it's not like that was even necessary, after all I cast spell earlier to make everyone in this place oblivious to our little quarrel."

The two looked at each other intensely as Twilight continued to try to use her magic, which still wasn't working.

"Oh and Twilight, I'm sorry but, I'm currently blocking your magic with my own. I guess you'll have to fight me the old-fashioned way without using magic." Obscure said, leaning closer to Carl.

"Then how about wings?" said a familiar, raspy female voice.

Obscure was suddenly tackled to the ground by a blur of cyan and rainbow. He flew into the wall before slowly sliding down and hitting the floor face-first. He groaned as he rolled over, blood dripping down his muzzle.

Apparently, his magic to conceal what he was doing to Twilight didn't work on Rainbow Dash, because she was now hovering over him and stuck her tongue out and mocked the downed unicorn. "Na-na-na-na."

"Aaaanndddd I hope some lacrosse action is all right!" Ryan's voice came out of nowhere as he jumped out from behind a section of DVDs with a black lacrosse stick, which he used to smash one of the men on the head before hitting the other in the side of the face. The last one was head-butted by a very powerful and adrenaline-fueled Rainbow Dash. As the four men rolled around the floor in pain, Carl, Twilight, Ryan and Rainbow Dash wasted no time in getting the hell out of the store. As they did, the people in the store began to notice what was going on as the spell wore off. They walked over to help the men out, including Obscure. Once he got his bearings he pointed to the exit, "Don't let them get away!"

"Holy shit man, where did you come from?" Carl gasped as they ran towards the exit.

"Sport's store, wasn't the lacrosse stick a giveaway?" Ryan asked with a smile, "we hid in the fitting room until their backs were turned. I tackled one and Dashie, here, got the other."

"Then we were leaving when we heard that jerk Obscure Darkness ranting like an idiot who thinks that he's some sort of egghead."

"Thanks you two, you saved our flanks." Twilight said with a smile before looking up at Carl, "and thanks for standing up for me."

Carl smiled briefly before returning his focus to running.

**Pete and Pinkie Pie**

Pete and Pinkie Pie ever so slowly made their way out of the fitting room once they felt that the coast was clear. As soon as they opened the door to leave the fitting room, however, they saw a store employee standing right outside with her arms crossed and an un-amused look on her face.

"And what were you two doing there?" she asked.

"N-nothing." Pete said nervously.

"Don't you dare lie to me kid. A girl and a boy come out of the same dressing room of a Macy's, and you think I'll believe nothing happened? What kind of fool do you take me for? You know this isn't a nightclub, you can't just fool around wherever you want; there are _rules_ here that must be followed."

"I…we didn't…." Pete started, but the woman cut him off.

"Don't try to talk your way out of this kid, just leave."

"Yes ma'am. Sorry ma'am." Pete muttered apologetically, even though he had nothing to apologize about, as he and Pinkie walked off.

"What was that weird lady talking about?" Pinkie Pie asked Pete with a raised eyebrow, and Pete shook his head.

"You don't want to know."

That's when they bumped into someone, causing them to both jump back in fright, only to realize that the people that they had bumped into was only Rarity and Louis, who were climbing out of their hiding spot after their pursuers had left the store.

"Louis? Rarity? What are you doing?" Pinkie asked as Pete was still trying to catch his breath from the shock of running into them.

"What do you think, we were hiding." Louis snarled before getting up, "Come on; let's get out of here before those assholes come back."

And on that note, all four friends ran out of the store and towards the entrance of the mall.

**Alex**

Alex and Applejack were already in Alex's car, ready to pick Pete and Pinkie Pie up as soon as they got outside. Finally, the door to the mall burst open and Rarity, Pinkie, Pete and Louis all spilled out.

"There they are." Alex muttered to himself as the back too to his car opened and Pete and Pinkie literally jumped into the backseat. "You guys okay?"

"Yeah, let's just get the hay out of here!" Pinkie shouted, her eyes bulging and her mouth opening to a size that only a cartoon character could.

Alex nodded and drove off to Carl's house.

Louis and Rarity, meanwhile, made their way to Louis' piece of shit sedan. As soon as Rarity saw it, she recoiled, "Egad Louis! Is _this_ what you go around in?"

"Yes it is, sorry it isn't a limousine _Madame_. Now get in I'm on my last nerve." Louis muttered with a mix of sarcasm and anger as he opened the door for Rarity. She delicately, almost nervously, got into the car as Louis slammed the door. He then got into his side, started the car, and sped off.

As they left, Ryan, Carl, Twilight and Rainbow Dash all sprinted to Carl and Ryan's cars.

"Remember, meet back at my house!" Carl shouted.

"Got it, come on Dashie!" Ryan and Rainbow Dash got into the black SUV while Carl and Twilight got into his sedan. Both care sped off to Carl's house, not noticing as four to six of the suited men, including Obscure, who was now Brett, ran out of the mall, missing them, so Carl's sedan wasn't identified as his and he, therefore, was still safe as far as his car goes.

Bret grimaced and stomped at the ground with pure anger.

**Meanwhile at the Park**

As the sun hung high in the sky, James and Fluttershy walked down the hiking trail behind Wilmont Park. Well, scratch that, James walked and Fluttershy flew alongside him. The trails were almost never in use, so it was relatively safe for Fluttershy to be in her real form. But whenever a stray hiker or jogger was coming up on them, Fluttershy would quickly hide inside of or beside a tree, and James would lean against it as if he had just run and was taking a break so no one would wonder why he was just standing in place. Once the hiker or jogger passed, James would coax Fluttershy out of hiding and they both continued on. He was definitely feeling better about everything regarding Caroline, but he still talked very little. After all, even hiking with the nicest pony ever couldn't completely make him forget the pain he felt for losing his cousin.

He was so quiet, in fact, that Fluttershy often had to be the one to initiate the conversation.

"So James, are you feeling better?"

James didn't respond immediately. He seemed to think over the question for a second before slowly nodding, "Yeah, I think so, a little."

"Do you want to talk about it anymore or not?"

"No, let's just keep walking."

Fluttershy knew that he was holding back so she flew in front of him and stopped him by hovering in front of his face.

"Please tell me James, it'll make you feel better."

"Fluttershy I told you I don't want to talk about it."

James gently pushed his way past and began to walk off when he felt something slam him into a tree. Not real hard, but enough to make sure he stayed put. He looked up and saw Fluttershy flapping directly in his face, her eyes directly in line of his own. "James, tell me."

"Fluttershy I…"

And that's when she used the "stare". James couldn't talk, he was frozen. It was not how he imagined it in the show, it was even MORE powerful than that. Her eyes bore into James' very soul, invaded his mind and body and made him feel as if she was in complete control of him. But her eyes weren't vicious; they still had the very kind and caring look that she always had. But they also had a desperate, pleading look about them as well, as if she really wanted James to open up.

"Tell me." She muttered again.

"Okay! I'll tell you!" James said, tears starting to form in his eyes as most of his stoic act broke down and he began to cry without sobbing. Just the image of tears rolling down his cheeks was enough to make Fluttershy feel bad about using her stare on Carl.

"Oh my, James, I'm sorry I didn't know…if you don't want to talk about it that much I won't…" She started but James held his hand out to silence her.

"You deserve to know." Carl muttered as he wiped some tears away, "My parents always degrade me, I've told you that already. And you know about Caroline being the light of my life." James wiped another tear away after that, "but what you don't know is how hard it is. To know that such a sweet girl, a girl who is caring and kind, never got a reward for being the great girl that she was. No, of course not; she got cancer, she got fucking cancer and now she's dead because of it. A girl that never did anything bad in her life gets punished while other evil fucks that are on this planet continue to live healthy, happy lives. I just don't get it. "

James sighed and picked up a rock. He hurled it to the other side of the trail with a depressed look on his face.

"And people wonder why I'm so cynical." James muttered as he looked over at Fluttershy, "why I'm agnostic. If God existed, why would he sit there and let Caroline of all people get sick? Why give her so much false hope before we left, and then rip it away shortly after as if he wanted to prank her. In this world, kindness is a crime of nature, a crime that isn't punished by some law created by man or commandment given by God; in fact it's supposed to be met with reward. But kindness is punished. You get taken advantage of, you have bad things happen to you, and you suffer through life. And to make matters worse, I wasn't there for her, Fluttershy; I wasn't there when she died. I wasn't kind, I wasn't. And how can I be the element of kindness if I can't even be there when my cousin needed me. Why did I leave for dinner, why couldn't I have stayed?"

At this, James buried his head in his knees as he sat against the tree, his hands pressing down on the top of his head in an attempt to make himself forget the pain.

"James you are kind." Fluttershy whispered into James' ear, making him blush. "You're kinder than most ponies that I've met. And it's not like you wanted to leave, you had to. Besides, you didn't think she would die last night after you left. It wasn't your fault."

"Thank you Fluttershy." James said with a sniffle.

"You're welcome," Fluttershy said with a smile as she pulled away from James, "I hope that made you feel a little better."

He nodded with a sigh, "Fluttershy, you're treating me too well. You…you're more than a friend to me…you care about me so much, you…you were there for me last night when I needed you."

"Well, it seemed only right since you were there for Caroline when she needed you." Fluttershy said.

James turned and hugged Fluttershy, "You're the best friend that I've ever had." He whispered.

Fluttershy let out a small _"eep"_ in embarrassment before sighing, "And you're one of the best friends a pony could ask for."

James sat back against the tree, tears welling up in his eyes again and he cried more. Once again, Fluttershy was there to comfort him.

But no matter how effective she was in making James feel better, she couldn't cure his broken heart.

But she was still there for him in his time of need, and that was what he needed right then, someone to comfort him, someone to care about him.

Someone to love him.

**Hope that chapter went well.**

**Now with finals and papers coming up, I am not sure how often I will be able to upload chapters. However, once summer vacation if here in a few weeks, I'll have ample time to write this as well as work on some screenplays (and catch up on MLP, I am 9 episodes behind so I've got some work to do). **

**Anyway, thanks for reading and please let me know what you think of the story so far.**

**Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go tell Rainbow Dash to stop doing her sonic rainboom over California during a meteor shower. She'll keep freaking people out.**

**Go Giants! Go Rainbow Dash!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Rise of Disharmony**

**I managed to get another chapter done since yesterday, so I hope it doesn't seem too rushed.**

**This is probably the most emotion so far, and I hope it doesn't get too schmultzy for your tastes.**

**So please read, review and enjoy.**

**And as I say before every chapter, I own nothing except my OC's.**

**Carl's House**

The neighborhood was dead silent. Dogs weren't barking, cars weren't driving up and down the street, and even the sounds of little kids playing was absent . This was, however, until four vehicles turned into the neighborhood at top speed, causing loud _screeches_ with the sharp turn that each car made. Still unsure if they were being followed or not, the Elements didn't take a risk by slowing down, even for the turn, and instead kept going at a relatively fast speed.

In Carl's car, Twilight was staring out the window with a nervous look while her body gave small shakes from the adrenaline that was still coursing through her veins. When Carl looked over at her and noticed this, he became concerned.

"Twi are you all right?"

Twilight nodded weakly, "Yeah…yeah I'm all right."

"Are you sure? You seem jittery."

Twilight looked directly at Carl, "That's because I am, Carl; I was almost killed." She said, a tear falling down her face.

"Well listen, we're almost home; you're safe now." Carl said as he reached over and wiped the tear off of her cheek. He then turned his attention back to the road and sighed, not wanting Twilight to see his own fear, "We're safe now." He muttered as he pulled into his driveway. The other three cars parked on the side of the road.

Once his car stopped and the engine was off, Carl closed his eyes let out a deep sigh and tightly gripped the steering-wheel to relieve some of the stress that he felt. Unfortunately, it wasn't very effective.

And how could it be? They were almost chased down by Discord's minions, who now had an even _better_ identification of them. Before it was just the one police officer who got a visual of Carl, Ryan and James, but now a large group of Discord's men knew what they looked like. One of whom seemed to be a "top dog" in the group who probably would tell Discord exactly what Carl looked like because of his close-up view of his face while he ranted to him in the video store.

Though they still didn't know their exact identities, Carl knew at that moment that he and the others were in more danger than they had been before their trip to the mall. Then Ryan saving him came to his mind, but it didn't give him a feeling of gratitude, rather it made him angry. As he got out of the car; his worried expression changed into concealed rage. He went around the car to help Twilight out, as she was still shaking like a leaf in a windstorm. He looked over at the black SUV that Ryan and Rainbow Dash were getting out of, mind filled with hatred for Ryan at that moment.

"_This is all Ryan's fault."_ He thought in a hiss, _"If he stayed home this would never have happened."_

Once Twilight was out of the car, Carl slammed the door angrily, which made Twilight jump in fear. She looked up at Carl's anger-filled eyes with worry, knowing that something was wrong with him. She took a cautious step towards him.

"Carl, are you okay?"

Carl didn't answer with words; he just shook his head slowly when he heard Alex call him.

"Carl is your mom home?" Alex asked as they approached the door.

"No, but she will be at five, so you guys can't stay too long." Carl muttered as he continued to glare at Ryan, who was too busy talking with Pete to notice. Carl went over to the door and opened it to let the rest of the group into the house. Once inside, Carl shut the door and turned to Twilight.

"You can remove your spell now Twi."

Twilight nodded, but she was still worried about Carl. She then closed her eyes and her horn glowed. A few seconds later, the glowing stopped and Louis, who was the only one in the house that was still in denial about of the girls' claims, stood in complete shock as the five girls revealed their pony selves to him. His mouth hung open and he was speechless.

"See, Louis, we weren't lying to you." Rarity said as she took a step towards him and flashed a big smile. "We really are ponies, and you and I are both the Elements of Generosity."

Louis stood still for a few more seconds before he shook his head.

"No, no I am not. I can't be …." He then looked over at Carl and pointed at him, "what did you do to me? Did you drug me? Or brainwashed me? Or hypnotize me?"

"Nothing! Louis I didn't do any of that, this is all real." Carl said. Louis, who was still in a state of disbelief, shook his head and went to go sit down on the nearby sofa. He buried his head in his hands and let out a sigh so deep that everyone in the room could hear it. Rarity and Twilight both went over to talk with Louis some more.

Meanwhile, Carl listened to the others as they discussed the incident at the mall.

"So she thought you and Pinkie were…?" Alex asked and Pete, who was blushing like crazy, nodded. Alex laughed. "That's just brilliant."

"What about you Alex, what happened with you and AJ?" Ryan asked.

"Me, oh nothing." he said in fake apathy, "I just used some kind of magic on a guy that was trying to drown her in a fountain. I lifted him into the air like it was nothing." Alex bragged.

"That's pretty badass." Ryan said with a grin.

"Yeah, it is isn't it? What about you and Rainbow Dash?"

"We hid in a sport's store and then when the time was right, we beat the crap out of those bastards." he then turned around to Rainbow Dash to address her, "didn't we Dashie?"

"Huh? Oh yeah Ryan, we sure did! Sorry I was talking with AJ over here about how Alex levitated some guy."

When Twilight heard that she turned her attention from Louis and Rarity to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, "Wait, what happened with you and Alex?"

"Ah was just sayin' how Alex lifted some guy off o' me and ah got ta buck him," Applejack said with a prideful smile, "ah sent him flyin' to the ground like a sack o' apples."

"Wow, that's so cool!" Rainbow Dash said with a big grin before turning to Ryan. "Ryan you've got to learn how to do that!"

Ryan laughed, "I'll work on it Dashie."

Carl closed his eyes, swearing like mad in his mind. Each mental curse was hurled at Ryan for the danger he put the group in. He never felt rage like that before, and for some reason, whenever Ryan talked affectionately with Rainbow Dash, he only got angrier, and he really wasn't sure why. His eyes then lay on an old family picture that was on a small table in front of a mirror. He slowly walked over to it and picked it up, looking at his family, complete with his father but missing the yet-to-be-born Anna. Everyone in the picture had such happy smiles. Normally this picture would bring Carl a mixture of happiness and sadness. Right now, however, it only made him angrier than he already was. Especially when he looked at the smiling faces of his mother and father, the relationship that ruined his own views on love.

Carl turned his attention back to the conversation between Ryan and the others.

What Ryan said next put Carl over the edge. "Yeah so we got out of there and on the way out I heard this idiot ranting monologues. It turned out that he was holding Twilight hostage and confronting Carl, so me and Rainbow Dash went in and saved them."

"From a situation you caused." Carl mumbled, causing the other three to look his way.

"Sorry?" Ryan asked.

"I said," Carl said as he put the picture back onto the small table with some force that made a small _"bang"_ noise before he turned to stare Ryan down with coldness, "I wouldn't have even been in that predicament if it weren't for you, hell, _none_ of us would have."

"What do you mean?" Ryan asked somewhat confused.

"If you and Rainbow Dash stayed at your house today like I asked you too, instead of coming with us none of this shit would have happened!" Carl yelled, now drawing everyone's attention to the conversation. Even Louis, who was in the process of listening to Rarity explain what he was chosen to do, looked over in Carl's direction.

Twilight turned slowly around and gulped, knowing that the building rage that she saw in Carl's eyes was now revealing itself in the most horrifying way.

Carl continued, "If you listened to me when I told you to lay low, we wouldn't have been in any danger. Do you realize what could have happened because of your stupidity? They could have captured us and killed the girls!" Carl hissed.

Ryan took a step back, "L-look Carl, I'm sorry I…"

"Just shut up, Ryan. Shut up." Carl hissed.

Behind him, Twilight and Applejack were both doing everything in their power to keep a struggling Rainbow Dash from attacking Carl. "Let go of me! He just insulted my coltfriend! Carl you jerk; stop yelling at Ryan! He didn't do anything!"

Carl just ignored her and continued his verbal assault on Ryan.

"You're selfish," Carl hissed, "all you care about is yourself, admit it."

"Carl I don't…."

"ALL YOU CARE ABOUT IS YOURSELF!" Carl roared, making Ryan flinch back in fear like a young puppy being yelled at by his owner, "But it's not just what happened at the mall that shows this, oh no. Let me ask you, did you even _think_ about your parents when you and Rainbow Dash hooked up? What about Rainbow Dash, hm, did you think of her? Did you think about what this relationship could do to her reputation?"

"Carl!" Twilight yelled as she continued to struggle with the angry cyan Pegasus, whose eyes were now filled with pure, protective rage. Alex looked like he wanted to punch Carl in the face, Pete was just scared silent, and Ryan looked like he was on the brink of breaking out into tears.

"That's just it, Ryan. You didn't. You represent loyalty, yet all you care about is your own wants and desires."

"Carl, stop it." Alex hissed.

"Hang on Alex let me just bring my point home," Carl said with his hand out to silence his friend. He then turned to Ryan, who looked like he was one insult or criticism away from breaking down. "Ryan, next time think of what's best for the group rather than what's best for you. And then maybe think about what's best for Rainbow Dash and your parents by finding a human girl to date instead of a pony you fucking sick deviant freak."

Those last five words; hissed with the venom and pure hatred that Carl put behind them; was all Ryan could take before he slowly started to walk backwards to the door. Tears formed in his eyes as he looked from Carl to Rainbow Dash, who had a worried expression on her face as she looked at Ryan.

He then looked back at Carl and shook his head before he turned and stormed out of the house, making sure not to let Carl see his tears. Applejack and Twilight let go of Rainbow Dash, who flew up and started to follow Ryan out to his car. But before she left, she stopped and turned to glare at Carl with pure hatred.

"Carl you're a jerk!" she hissed. Carl looked at her without emotion as she flew out of the house after Ryan.

Alex walked over to Carl and stared him down, "I never thought you'd be the type of person to say something like that to one of your friends."

Carl gave Alex an equally hate-filled look "You mean two of my friends, that deviant comment applied to you too dick-wad."

"Go fuck yourself." Alex muttered. He then shook his head and pushed by Carl and started for the door. Applejack sighed and bade Twilight good-bye before running after Alex, but not before taking a quick, hate-filled glance back at Carl.

"Pete, come on you need a ride home don't you?" Alex called from outside.

Pete, who was frozen in shock up until this moment, slowly followed Alex with a very depressed Pinkie Pie by his side. Her eyes had tears forming and her mane was deflated into its "sad" state.

Pete turned to Carl and whispered uneasily, "See you later."

With that, they all headed out after Alex and Applejack to leave.

Just as Alex left the house and started his way to his car, Louis stood up, "I'm fucking out of here."

As he began to leave, Twilight and Rarity went over to stop him, "Wait! Louis where are you going?"

"Home," he said coldly before looking at Rarity and Twilight with defiance, "and I am _not_ the Element of Generosity."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not! I didn't ask for this shit! Unlike your fucking idiot friends over there I have a future!" he said, motioning to the door where everyone was walking out, "My destiny is to be an all-star soccer player at a Division one university and maybe make it to the pros! I can't risk that by fighting this bullshit battle!"

"But we need you to stop Discord!" Twilight yelled. "If you don't accept your responsibilities he won't just bring chaos to Wilmont, he'll bring chaos to this world!"

Louis chuckled at this and shook his head, "Twilight, sweetie, in case you haven't noticed our world is already chaos, with or without Discord's presence. And these idiots that you're partnered with aren't exactly the best representation of harmony." He looked at Carl as if he was referring to him, but he still spoke to Twilight, "They bitch and complain over the simplest things and yet you expect them to get along well enough to represent the Elements of Harmony? Dream on."

Louis finally stormed out of the house with Rarity closely following him, pleading for him to stop and be reasonable.

"Louis please don't leave, we need you! I need you!"

This got him to stop for a minute; his mind began to question his defiance. However, his stubborn nature won out over his conscience and continued to his car.

Once he got into his car and sped off, a desperate Rarity shouted after him, "Louis! Come back! Please!" As she watched his car turn and drive off, she buried her face into the ground and cried hard, so upset that she didn't care how much dirt got into her fur or well-groomed mane.

Twilight ran outside to help Rarity while Carl just looked at the floor, mulling over what he just did, and how terribly he treated Ryan and the others. He was so upset and into his own thoughts about what happened that he didn't notice Anna, Lisa and Spike all peering over the railing of the upstairs balcony just above Carl's head, looking down to see what the commotion was all about.

"What's Carl's problem?" Anna whispered to Lisa, who just shrugged.

"I don't know."

"He's a jerk." Spike whispered.

"I don't necessarily disagree with that assessment." Lisa answered. "But something tells me it's more than just that."

"You're right, it's not just because he's a jerk. It's because he's a _big_ jerk." Spike said flatly.

"No Spike, I think there's something wrong with him mentally, I just don't know what it is." Lisa muttered.

"Yeah, being a jerk is a mental problem." Spike said, still with the same, flat expression.

Downstairs, Twilight came back into the house with Rarity under her foreleg. She was whispering to her in an attempt to calm her down, which did seem to work as Rarity's crying began to slow down and, eventually, cease.

"It's okay Rarity, he'll come around." Twilight muttered before she looked up at Carl, whose face was directed at the ground, his eyes misty as he obviously was on the brink of tears himself. Twilight was initially going to scold him, but when she saw his face her anger dissipated and was replaced by concern.

"Carl?" she asked softly.

"Twilight take Rarity upstairs and go into my room." Carl whispered.

"But Carl I…"

"Please…Twilight." Carl said with sad desperation, pointing up the stairs without ever looking up.

Twilight sighed, "Come on Rarity." She said, helping guide her sad friend upstairs. Carl looked up for a second, his eyes falling on the family portrait from before. His eyes suddenly became filled with a new rage as he saw his father and mother's smiling faces.

Once the girls reached the top of the stairs, they were met by Anna, Lisa and Spike, all of whom looked worried.

Spike ran over to Rarity and put his hand onto her shoulder, "Rarity, are you okay?"

"Not really."

"What in Celestia's name happened down there?"

"Louis left." Rarity whispered sadly. "He didn't want to be the Element of Generosity. That or he didn't believe it…or both. Either way I'm simply devastated, I feel like I've been dumped."

"What's wrong with Carl?" Anna asked Twilight.

"I don't know Anna he…" Twilight began when there was a sudden _"CRASH"_ heard from the living rom.

Everyone jumped in surprise when they heard the noise. Twilight and the others walked over to the balcony and slowly peered over the ledge to see Carl standing, a broken picture frame and glass on the other side of the living room. Among the shrapnel was the family picture itself torn up from the impact and sharp pieces of glass. He stood with his hands on his head, breathing heavily, eyes red from crying. He didn't sob or let out any audible sign of his distress other than his heavy breathing and small grunts of frustration.

But even though his back was turned to the group, Twilight could tell that he was crying.

"_Oh Carl…"_ she thought sadly.

**City Hall- 4:00**

Mayor Drocsid stood in front of the large window in his office that overlooked downtown. He could see people heading home for the night as businesses began to close. Some people fought each other for taxis, others honked their horns in anger as they were stuck in the long line of traffic. The sun shone through the window and hit the mayor in a way that made him look almost empowered. It didn't hurt that he was beaming, his smile was both full of glee, and sadistic intentions.

He felt the disharmony grow between the human elements. He knew that something had happened between them that threatened their friendship. Because of this, he could bide his time and grow stronger until he could finally unleash more hell over Wilmont than anyone had ever seen before.

And then he would turn his attention to the rest of the world, and then Equestria.

The longer that the elements remained in disarray, the stronger Drocsid could become until he would finally be able to reveal his true form to this dimension.

Until then, he was just enjoying the ride.

**Ryan's House**

After getting home and have a quick word with his parents, Ryan went up to his room and let Rainbow Dash in through the window as he always did. They then both lay on Ryan's bed and looked up at the ceiling, not saying much to each other for a few minutes. Ryan's hand was tightly holding onto Rainbow Dash's hoof, as she pressed her body against his arm. Even if he was upset, knowing that she was there helped him feel better.

Finally, Rainbow Dash spoke up, "Ryan, please talk to me, why are you letting Carl get to you?"

Ryan sighed and shook his head, "Because I'm wondering if what I'm doing is wrong. I don't want people to call you a freak because you're dating me, Dashie."

Rainbow Dash turned to look at Ryan, "Ryan look at me."

Ryan slowly turned to his side, his eyes still red from crying. Some stray, dry tear streaks ran down his face from his eyes to his chin. They began to kiss and wrap their arms around each other. When they broke the hug, Rainbow Dash looked directly into Ryan's eyes.

"Ryan, I love you, and I don't care what others say about me…about us. All I care about is the love we share." She said, looking down at her hooves before muttering, "But it also matter what you want."

Ryan leaned in closer to her and kissed her forehead, "And I want you." He whispered, "I never want to be with anyone or anypony else in my life."

Rainbow Dash gave Ryan a comforting smile, "Then why should you care what your jerk friend thinks of us?"

"You're right, it's just….painful to hear those words coming from someone like Carl, who I've always considered a close friend of mine. But he was right that we shouldn't have left the house today; that was my fault."

"Hey! He still didn't deserve to say what he did to you. Besides, I begged him to let us leave as well, so it was just as much my fault as it was yours." Rainbow Dash said.

"No it wasn't Dashie, don't say that."

"We're a couple Ryan," she said with a warm smile that continued to improve Ryan's mood, "We share everything, both the good and the bad."

Ryan was amazed at how much better he felt talking with Rainbow Dash. She was like his personal stress-ball for the shit life hurled at him, much like she was when he watched the show.

"That's comforting to hear," he said, "You know we're going to have to leave the house. After today I seriously doubt they're going to just observe our house. No, they're gonna try to get us. So tomorrow I'm going to have to reveal you to my parents and convince them to evacuate."

Rainbow Dash nodded, "Okay, but you don't want to tell them about our relationship yet, right?"

Ryan shook his head slowly; his eyes showed great disappointment because he really did want to introduce this wonderful girl to his parents, but he knew it wouldn't end well. He loved Rainbow Dash, but if Carl reacted in the manner that he did, Ryan had a feeling that his parents would be just as bad, if not worse, in their response.

"My parents wouldn't get it," Ryan said sadly, "They're great people and always are there for me, but, this would be too much for them, at least for right now."

Rainbow Dash smiled at Ryan and, as she did the past two nights, she nuzzled into his chest.

"I understand."

"Thank you."

"Ryan! Dinner's ready!" shouted Ryan's mom from downstairs.

Ryan and Rainbow Dash broke their embrace and Ryan got up and started for the staircase when he stopped and turned to her. She was sitting up, looking at him with a smile.

"Thanks for making me feel better…again." Ryan said.

Rainbow Dash gave an even bigger grin, "No problem Ryan."

Ryan smiled back at her one more time and headed downstairs to eat, leaving Rainbow Dash upstairs to contemplate how they both would break the news to Ryan's parents when Ryan felt like the time was right.

**Pete's House**

"Pinkie Pie, come on. Everything will be fine" Pete pleaded as Pinkie sat on his bed with her eyes still full of misery. Her mane was flat against her head just as it had been since they left Carl's house and, as Pete found out, when Pinkie Pie was sad, the atmosphere of the entire area surrounding her became sad.

"How could Carl be so mean to Ryan?" she asked gloomily.

"He just has some problems." Pete said before he sat at his desk and opened his laptop. "Don't worry too much about it, it'll work out." He added as he heard Pinkie let out a deep sigh.

"_I wish I could cheer her up."_ Pete thought as he went online. As he clicked away at his computer, Pinkie looked up in his direction with curiosity.

"Pete, what are you doing?" Pinkie asked still sort of depressed. Pete turned around and looked at her.

"Oh nothing I'm just checking out Facebook." He said as he turned back to his computer screen.

"Facebook? What's that?"

"It's a social networking site that most teenagers use to talk with friends...and procrastinate from schoolwork." he added with a small chuckle.

"Oh! You can talk to friends on there?" She asked, her hair becoming puffy again and her sad face becoming happier as she gave a great, big, excited smile.

"_Wow, really? It's that easy to cheer her up? Damn."_ Pete thought as he nodded, "Yep, come here I'll show you."

She ran over to him so quickly that it seemed as if she had flown. She stopped right next to Pete and grinned as she looked at him and then to the computer the screen.

She leaned towards the screen to get a closer look. "Hmmmmm, Jason Hill "likes" _Reservoir Dogs_. Claire Sanders "shared" a photo. "Aaron Vaughn is "in a relationship"." she read off of the computer screen.

"That's my news-feed. All of my Facebook friends' activity is put on here."

"Wow, there are a lot of people on here! How many friends do you have?"

"On Facebook? Um…" he clicked on his profile and checked the number, "uh it looks like…423." He said before clicking the "home" link and going back to the news-feed that had a gained a couple of new addition in the millisecond that Pete had left to check his profile.

Pinkie gasped and turnsed to give Pete a big smile, "Wow that's a LOT of friends!"

"Yeah, but those are _Facebook_ friends." Pete corrected.

"What's the difference?"

"I don't _really_ have 423 friends; hell I only have talked to, like 100 people that I'm "friends with" on here."

"Oh! Then why does it say that you're friends?"

"Because I accepted their invites; or because they accepted my invites."

"Oh, so requests are like party invitations?"

"No, they're just confirmations to send to people to ask if they accept their friendship, it makes the site safer." Pete said, "No I don't have this many friends. Honestly, I didn't really have any friends before I met you."

Pinkie Pie chuckled, "Pete, how can you not have friends? You're smart, kind, funny, sweet. But not too sweet, more like cake sweet, or maybe cookie sweet. Actually, they're almost the same thing. I work in a bakery, so I notice tiny differences in the sweetness levels of different foods. "

Pete began to laugh at Pinkie's antics again, loving every minute that he was spending with her.

"You know you really are random, right?"

Pinkie Pie nodded, "Yep! That's what they tell me, especially Rainbow Dash, she thinks I'm super random." She then leaned closer to the computer again, "Can I see some more of these "newsfeeds"."

Pete shrugged, "By all means."

She gave an excited grin and leaned forward towards the computer, her eyes the size of dinner plates, "Hey Pete?"

"Yeah?"

"What's _Farmville_?"

Pete thought for a second before laughing, "You know, honestly, I have no idea. All I know is that a lot of my Facebook friends use it."

"Anne Leigh has a new calf on her farm, awwwwwww that cow is sooooo cute!" She said as she pointed at the small image of an animated cow, and gave such an adorable face that Pete melted a little bit on the inside.

"_This world needs more people like you Pinkie." _he thought happily.

**Carl's House**

Carl sat in his bed with his back against his pillows and the wall behind him, staring blankly at the all across from his bed. It was late, and after a half-hour or dinner and four hours of apologizing to his mother for breaking the picture, he retreated to his room, completely exhausted from the day he had. Twilight and Rarity decided to give him privacy and chose to sleep in Anna's room, while Spike, once again, chose to sleep in Lisa's room.

In the past few hours, Carl had gotten over his rage towards Ryan and now was only filled with a huge amount of guilt. He felt terrible about how he treated his friends, both Alex and Ryan, and he knew that he had to apologize to them. But he wasn't sure how. After what he called Ryan, he wasn't sure if he even deserved forgiveness.

He was thinking about what compelled him to call Ryan a deviant freak when he heard the door to his room open and saw Twilight's head peek inside, her face was still full of the same concern that it was during the incident.

"Carl? Can I come in?"

Carl nodded, "You know that you don't have to ask Twilight."

She nodded and slowly trotted over to Carl's bedside. "Carl we need to talk."

"No we don't." Carl muttered, "I know how I acted was terrible and I plan on apologizing to Ryan and Alex tomorrow, there's nothing else that can be done right now."

"That's great, Carl. But that's not why I'm here." Twilight said before she climbed onto Carl's bed and moved right next to him. She lay down on her stomach so her face was directly in line with Carl's, as he turned away from staring at the opposite wall and gave his attention to her. He was mere inches away from her face, her big, violet eyes that had so often before made him filled with joy.

Twilight spoke with compete seriousness, "I want to know something, and be honest. Do you like me?"

Carl gulped, "Twi…I….of course, you're my friend and…"

Twilight shook her head, "You know that I don't mean as a friend. I mean are you attracted to me?"

Carl was scared now, "W-what makes you say that."

"Carl it's so obvious," Twilight said, "and the way you yelled at Ryan today showed your insecurities."

"I thought you promised that we weren't going to talk about this anymore." Carl grumbled.

"We weren't, and I was going to wait to see if you came around. But based on how you treated Ryan today, I know that I can't wait, I have to get you to open up to me before you ruin any more friendships."

"Twilight I…I don't want to talk about it." Carl said with pleading eyes.

Twilight nodded, "All right, you want to drop it. Fine, I'll make a deal with you. If you can look into my eyes and tell me that you don't have romantic feelings for me…that you're not attracted to me; then I won't ever bring it up again and we can move on."

Carl sighed and looked at Twilight, who just kept staring at him.

Carl looked down at his hands to avoid her glare, "Twilight, I…"

"My eyes are up here Carl." Twilight muttered.

"_Goddamn it."_

Carl sighed and looked directly into Twilight's eyes, they eyes that he loved so much, the eyes that matched his own in color, but were more innocent and pure then he could ever hope his could be. Her beautiful face; and her concern for him began to gnaw at his heartstrings.

"Twi…." Slowly, Carl began to lean closer to Twilight, "I….I don't….I…" she began to move in as well. Finally, their lips met. Carl suddenly felt as if his heart and soul were free of some invisible vice grip that had held onto it for years, the grip of his over-analyzing brain. Slowly, they both opened their mouths and began to use their tongues as they hugged each other in a way that Ryan and Rainbow Dash had for the past few days. The feelings that Carl had at this moment was the single happiest that he had in a long time. He felt like all of the worries that he had were insignificant as he held onto the girl of his dreams. The girl who was always there for him, even when she was nothing more to him than a drawing ona cartoon.

As they broke the kiss, Carl and Twilight looked at each other, pure love in both of their eyes.

"Was that so hard Carl?" Twilight asked with a smile.

Carl smiled back and shook his head, "No…no it…it wasn't."

"You know, ever since I saw you at that party, I've had a crush on you." Twilight said with a smile accompanied by bedroom eyes.

"R-really?"

She nodded, "And based on Alex and Ryan's own stories, I assume you had a crush on me when I was still just a fictional character to you?" she muttered as she "drew" circles in the bed-sheets with her hoof.

Carl nodded. "Yeah I did."

Twilight smiled and kissed Carl on the forehead before she drew back and looked at him straight in the eyes again, making his heart melt as he looked into her own.

"I know that a pony human relationship wasn't the only reason you were freaked out about this. It didn't help, but there was more, wasn't there?" she asked.

Carl slowly nodded his head; since he now knew why he had felt the way he did, especially after throwing the family picture in his anger.

"I've been wondering myself. But after mulling over what how I treated Carl, I think I know. I told you the story of my father, and you remember when I said he was killed right as he was getting back together with me mom, right?"

Twilight nodded.

"Well, two years before that day, when I was ten my parents filed for divorce. Now, this didn't really have much of an impact on either Anna or Lisa because Lisa was only two and Anna wasn't even born yet. But for me…." Carl sighed and shook his head, "If you asked me to give an example of the perfect couple, of the perfect marriage, a week before the divorce, I would have said my parents' marriage. They were always so happy around us, so affectionate for one another. When they divorced, it crushed me. But what made it worse was that it came out of nowhere. That completely changed my outlook on love because after that day, I became convinced that a perfect romance was impossible to achieve."

"Ever since that day whenever I'd see a couple holding hands or kissing, especially classmates, I would just think of how their relationship wasn't going to last. Even today I always think of the negatives about getting into a relationship, which is why I've never really formally dated anyone. If there was a cheerleader I wanted to date, I thought she would cheat on me with one of the football players because I was not cool enough. If it was a really smart girl, like you, I thought I would be too stupid for her and she would dump me becuase of that. I didn't just have doubts for a relationship because of how unorthodox it would be, but also because I felt like you would get bored with me, or…you'd think I wasn't smart enough for you."

Twilight seemed to be taken aback by this statement. "Carl how could you think that?"

"Face it; I'm not the braniac like you are. I'm not into reading or learning or any of that stuff that fascinates you. Hell, I lost faith in magic, and that's what you study."

"So what?" she asked, "Carl I love you for the person that you are, not what activities that you're interested in. Besides, I know you like me for more than just my interest in magic."

"You're right," Carl said, "You're the kind of person I wish I could be. You're always there for your friends, you're beautiful, you're kind, you….you would never betray me."

Twilight wrapped her forelegs around Carl again, "You're right; I won't."

Carl nodded, "I know you won't, but my skepticism fought my heart so much that I couldn't tell you how I felt. And I was mad at myself for thinking such things because you're…well…"

"A pony." She completed his thought, and Carl nodded. "And that's why you snapped at Ryan, you weren't really calling him a freak…you were calling yourself one."

Carl nodded again.

Twilight inched closer to him so they were mere centimeters away from each other.

"You aren't a freak Carl, you're a great person, even if you made a mistake today. And I've never had someone admire me like you do. I wasn't kidding when I said how flattered I was that you considered me your favorite out of us six. I really am grateful. "

"And I'm grateful that I mean so much to you, Twi." Carl said, stroking her mane a bit.

She pressed into his hand and rubbed her neck against it before she looked back at Carl, "You are going to apologize to Ryan and Alex tomorrow, right?"

"Oh without question." Carl said before turning back to Twilight, who was smiling at him. They both kissed one last time before Carl turned the light off and he turned back to her. They both closed their eyes when Carl heart Twilight whisper, "Good night Carl, I love you."

Carl hesitated for a second; gulping as his brain gave his heart one last brawl for control. Finally, his mind surrendered the battle and his heart felt relaxed and free. He sighed as he was finally able to mutter the words, "I love you too Twi."

**Hope that chapter worked for you guys.**

**Like I said in the last Chapter, my schedule is pretty unpredictable with finals and papers but hopefully I'll get lucky like I did today.**

**Go Giants! go Rainbow Dash!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Apologies and Rise of Anarchy**

**Here is Chapter 11.**

**Now if I split this story into three parts (like atrilogy) this would be around the time that the second installment begins.**

**It's gonna start getting really dark, so I hope it still isable to work with you guys.**

**I do have an idea for another Fanfiction story, but I don't plan to start it until I'm done with finals so it won't be up for a few weeks.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy this Chapter.**

**Thanks for reading and giving me reviews :)**

**Oh, and I own nothing except my OC Characters**

**Louis' House- Night**

As soon as Louis got home from being out, he collapsed onto the couch in front of the television and flipped to the national news. They were talking about some suicide bombing in Afghanistan that killed U.S. soldiers and Afghani citizens, just a typical day in the most dangerous place on Earth.

He just shook his head, _"And they really think Discord is a threat in a world where shit like this happens every day?"_

He groaned and changed through the channels to find something more optimistic. He found a soccer game between the U.S. national team and Mexico that was taped from a few days before and smiled. He turned the volume on the television up to a point where he felt like he was actually on the field, surrounded by the cheering spectators. He could almost see the lights from the stadium surrounding him in an almost God-like aura as he pumped his fist to the cheering crowd that went "USA! USA!"

Louis grinned at the day-dream, hoping that one day he could gain such notoriety and bring pride to his country with his soccer skills. He then opened his eyes to the sight of his boring living room and let out a sigh before turning his attention back to the game, turning the volume up even more to bask in the mental image that he continued to create of him being present in the stadium.

His Aunt and Uncle were both out on the town so he didn't have to worry about making too much noise. He sat there for most of the night, both watching the game and drifting off into his own soccer fantasy, until his eyes began to get heavy. He let out a deep sigh and turned the television off before he headed upstairs.

Once in his room, he climbed into bed and let out a deep sigh. He was suddenly wide awake as the thoughts from the day began to fill his mind.

Then his mind fell on Rarity and how he had drove off as she sobbed for him to come back. Part of him felt agony about how he treated her; after all she was his favorite on the show and she did seem like she really liked him.

Part of his brain was screaming at him to go back and apologize, and he did know how that would be the right thing to do. But whenever he thought about the men who were following them at the mall, and how Ryan was targeted and followed, he began to think otherwise.

It was the classic battle. The question of _"what should I do"_ versus _"what's best for me."_

For now, Louis decided to sleep on it before he would come to a decision the next day.

**Wilmont City Hall**

"Yes Lawrence, tomorrow night I want you to bring that neighborhood to its knees." Brett hissed into the phone as he paced back and forth in his office, wringing his hands. On the other end of the phone was Lawrence, fulfilling his role as the head boss of the anarchist gangs, who all secretly assembled over the part two years to become several separate gangs who were no longer rivals. They all were now on the same side, unified under an almost "underground" anarchist government where Lawrence was the speaker and Mayor Drocsid was their President.

As time wore on, Brett knew that the time of sitting idly by had to end, and so he was calling Lawrence to tell him what the next plan of action was, and how the anarchist's would no longer hide in the shadows.

It was time to reveal themselves to Wilmont.

"_Yes sir, do we go all out or just scare the shit out of them?"_

Brett bit his lip, "No mercy to anyone. Young of old, sick or healthy, bring them down. Kill them all. No person in that wealthy neighborhood is left breathing."

_"Understood."_

"And make sure you get that little bastard Ryan and his family. Bring him here alive, but leave everyone else for the morticians."

"_Understood."_

"Assemble the troops Lawrence."

_"Hail Discord."_

"Hail Discord." And with that, Brett hung up.

**-THE NEXT MORNING-**

**Ryan's House**

Ryan and Rainbow Dash stood at the top of the staircase as they looked downstairs towards the kitchen where they heard both of Ryan's parents talking as they ate breakfast.

Ryan was not looking forward to what he was about to do, but he knew that it was essential that it was. He wished that he could just keep Rainbow Dash a secret from his parents a little longer so that he could enjoy her presence in secrecy, which both he and Rainbow Dash agreed would be more fun. But there was no way out of it, and Ryan knew that the situation could only get awkward. Besides, he knew that if he wanted to convince his parents to evacuate, he needed to show them the impossible, namely Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash looked up at Ryan to see him shaking in fear. Hell, Ryan wasn't even this nervous before he sat down to take the AP Physics exam in May, and he almost threw up at that point.

"Ryan, remember, I'll be there right by your side." Rainbow Dash said comfortingly as she nuzzled him.

Ryan nodded, "Thanks Dashie, I appreciate it, but I'm still scared."

Rainbow Dash smiled, "Don't be scared Ryan. Remember, go in with your head held up high and call me when you're ready. Besides, they're your parents, they'll understand."

"I hope so."

"Well it's not like you're telling them about our relationship now, right?"

Ryan shook his head, "Not yet, I still think it's best if I wait to break the news to them after they got to know you a bit."

Rainbow Dash leaned up and kissed Ryan on the cheek and whispered, "Be strong."

Ryan nodded and took a deep breath. Once he felt relaxed, he began his descent downstairs. Rainbow Dash slowly followed him at a reasonable distance so that his parents wouldn't see her quite yet, but, at the same time, she'd be close by when Ryan wanted her to reveal herself.

Ryan walked into the kitchen to see his father and mother sitting at the table eating some eggs and toast. It was a Saturday, so both of them had off from work, which normally would have excited Ryan as they could go to the movies.

But today was different.

Ryan's mother looked up at Ryan and gave him a smile, "Good morning Ryan."

"Good morning son." His father said as he peered over the local paper, the glasses he was wearing slid down to the tip of his nose.

"Good morning guys." He said. He slowly took his seat at the table and sighed. This sign of distress didn't get by his mother at all, which wasn't surprising to him because she could read his emotions like a book.

"Ryan is everything all right?" She asked. "You seem a tense."

Ryan nodded, "Yeah, everything is fine. I just need to talk to you two about something."

They both looked at Ryan with nervous faces, like they thought something horrible had happened.

"Ryan what's wrong?" his mother asked.

"Mom, Dad." Ryan took a deep breath and let it out slowly before he continued, "We need to get out of the house."

His parents looked at their son with pure bewilderment. Ryan expected this from them. After all, he would be confused as well if his son told him to evacuate out of nowhere.

"R-Ryan what are you talking about?" his father asked as he slowly put the paper down onto the table.

"We need to leave," he responded, "if we stay in this house we'll be sitting ducks."

"Ryan?" his mother asked.

"Son, what are you talking about?" his father now chimed in a shaky voice that was both alarmed and nervous.

Ryan knew that there was absolutely no going back now, so he decided to put all of his chips on the table come out of "the brony closet".

"How familiar are you with the concept of "bronies"?" He asked somewhat quietly. His gut began to wrench as he was not looking forward to talking to them about this. Even after everything that had happened, he really wasn't comfortable with telling them that he wasa brony, and always did his fan-boy activities in private.

But he knew that they had to know now, so he looked up at them to see their reactions. Both of his parents looked confused, like they weren't really sure what bronies were.

"Bronies?" his father asked with confusion.

"Male fans of the new installment of "My Little Pony"."

His parents both then realized what he was talking about, and both didn't seem too thrilled about it.

"So you're nervous because you wanted to tell us that you're a..brony?" Ryan's father asked, sounding a little stern, as if he was somewhat dissappointed that is son would be into a thing that was, in his mind, considered girly.

Ryan sighed and shook head, "No that's not all."

"Then what else is it?" his mother now asked.

"And what does it have to do with us being in danger?" his father added.

Ryan gulped and turned to the opening that led into the kitchen, "Dashie, you can come in here now."

Ryan's parents looked at him with confusion as they were unsure who he was calling to.

A second later, Rainbow Dash slowly trotted into the kitchen with a huge blush on her face from shyness, a shyness that Ryan didn't know that she had. It was like he was looking at a slightly less timid, blue and rainbow version of Fluttershy.

When Ryan's parents saw the cartoon pony, their faces fell into a state of shock. Ryan's father even took his glasses off to make sure they weren't giving him hallucinations. Ryan decided that he had to be the one to break the silence so he decided that introductions were the best way to start things off.

"Mom, Dad, this is Rainbow Dash. Dashie, these are my parents."

Rainbow Dash looked from Ryan to his parents and then gave them a sheepish smile and chuckled nervously.

"He-he. Hi, you must me Ryan's parents." She slowly walked up to the two stunned adults and stuck her hoof out to them for a hand/hoof-shake, "my name's Rainbow Dash, it's very nice to finally meet you, Ryan's told me a lot about you."

There was a long silence as both of Ryan's parents looked like statues that belonged in some art museum. They were immobile, eyes unblinking and mouths agape, and unable to react in any way other than stare in astonishment at Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash slowly brought her hoof to the back of her head and rubbed it nervously. She also bit her lip before letting out another small, timid chuckle, "He-he, I know this must be kind of a shock to you."

Ryan's father was the first to move as he rubbed his eyes with his thumb and pointer-finger,

"Ugh….saying this is a shock is like saying Hitler was a little mean, or the Cleveland Browns are a little bad." He muttered.

"Ryan…Ryan what's going on?" Ryan's mother asked, still not taking her eyes off of Rainbow Dash, "why….why is there an animated horse in our house?"

"Pony mom," Ryan corrected, "and that's what I need to talk to you guys about. She was sent here with her friends to vanquish an evil that is threatening to overtake the world, starting here in Wilmont. She's here now because we both represent the element of Loyalty, and are therefore partners in this attempt to stop the evil that lurks in this town."

"The Element of _what_?" Ryan's dad asked.

"Loyalty, Dad. Don't worry I'll explain it more to you guys later." Ryan said, "The most important thing we need to do now is get out of here. Discord…the evil presence…knows where I live and if we stay here and do nothing, we're sitting ducks for him and his cronies. That's why I am showing you guys Rainbow Dash here." He pointed to Rainbow Dash, who gave another, warm smile to Ryan's parents. "Because I wanted to make sure that you believed me when I said that we were in serious danger."

His parents seemed to be less frozen in shock, and more fearful for their safety.

"Ryan where are we supposed to go?" Ryan's mother asked fearfully.

"I don't know a hotel or something where people wouldn't be able to track us easily. Like a hotel or motel or something." Ryan said. Rainbow Dash noticed Ryan's mother's fear and put her hoof onto her thigh. Ryan's mom looked up at Rainbow Dash who was giving her a comforting smile.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine. But it is kind of important that we leave now." Rainbow Dash said as she let her hoof drop from Ryan's mother's thigh.

Ryan's parents both nodded and stood up from their chairs.

"All right Ryan, we'll go." Ryan's father said before turning to Ryan's mother, "Come on sweetie. Let's get cleaned up."

They began to clean the kitchen when Ryan's father turned to Ryan, "Ryan, go upstairs and get your things. We're heading to a hotel."

"Okay," Ryan said as he started to leave. He then stopped and turned back to his parents, "Oh and take the BMW in the garage, because they know what my truck looks like and if they see me and Dashie leaving with you guys they'll follow us."

_CRASH_

Ryan's mother dropped the dish that she was washing into the sink and turned to her son.

"They're here now!"

"Possibly, we can't take the risk. Now please hurry." Ryan said as he left the kitchen with Rainbow Dash right on his heels. As they left, both of his parents shared a nervous look before they began to clean with fervor.

Upstairs in his room, Ryan grabbed his backpack and began to shove things into it. He put some cleaning supplies and toiletries in, as well as some means of recreation. He grabbed some movies that he had upstairs, namely "Inception", "How To Train Your Dragon", "Memento" and "Forest Gump". He also threw his iPod into his bag and turned to see Rainbow Dash looking out the window. She looked both stoic and strong, the reasons why she was so awesome.

"Dashie what are you doing?"

"Making sure nopony is outside spying on us." She said with her face in an intense scowl. She pressed her face into the glass window and shouted, "Where are you! Show yourselves!"

"They can't hear you through the glass Dashie."

"I'll make them hear me." She snarled.

"Besides, they won't see us leave because we're going in our sedan and it's in the garage."

She pushed back from the window, leaving smudge marks that were in the shape of her face and hooves, and walked over to Ryan's small bookshelf and began to look through it to see if there were any good reads.

Or in her case, the only series of books that she would allow a cool pony like herself to be caught reading.

"Hey Ryan?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you have any Daring Doo books, or is that just an Equestria thing?"

Ryan shook his head, "We don't have any books about her here on Earth, unless you count fan-fiction. Hang on, I'll see if there's a book that you might like."

He ran over to the bookshelf and began to quickly scan it until his eyes lay on a single book. He took it out and looked at it before turning to Rainbow Dash. "Let me ask you something Dashie, what's the most violent book that is sold in Equestria?"

"You'd be surprised." She said with a chuckle, "why do you ask?"

Ryan handed her a paperback book, which she took. Slowly, she read out the title, "_The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo_?"

"Yeah it's a great book," Ryan muttered, "which was then made into a great movie. Actually the song we sang at the mall the other day was used in the film. But this book is very graphic, Dashie. There's rape and some other violent scenes, though so I'm not sure if you'd be interested in…."

"I'll read it." Rainbow Dash said with a smile, "I can handle it."

"Are you sure?"

Rainbow Dash nodded and walked over to Ryan's backpack. "I'm Rainbow Dash, I'm not afraid of anything! Not even books that might be a little disturbing."

"Okay, I was just wondering, because Equestria doesn't seem like there would be rape or anything like that."

Rainbow Dash smiled and walked over to Ryan, got onto her hind-legs, and hugged him, "If you're there next to me when I read it, it won't be a problem."

Ryan smiled, "I will be, don't worry. In fact, I'll read it out loud to you and we can watch the movie together if you want."

She gave him a big smile and nodded with excitement before she jumped to the ground. Ryan then remembered one last thing. He ran back over to the DVD case shelf and pulled out "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo".

"_David Fincher you'd better make Rainbow Dash happy."_ Ryan thought with a smirk before he went back to his bag and put the movie in. With that, both he and Rainbow Dash went downstairs.

A few minutes later, his parents were done packing the few things that they wanted to bring, and met their son and Rainbow Dash downstairs.

With that, they got into their car, opened the garage, and drove off., both Ryan and Rainbow Dash ducking in the back so anyone who was watching them would only see Ryan's parents.

Meanwhile, in a black sedan parked in front of the house next door, two men watched as the car drove off.

"Should we follow?"

The other man shook his head, "The kid drives the black truck over there. That's his parents' car, and we don't need to follow them."

**James' House**

James sat at the table with his pen and paper and began to scribble down notes and feelings about Caroline. The funeral was going to be the next day, and his Aunt wanted him to give a small eulogy for her, as he wrote some more, he heard the sound of high-heels walking into the kitchen.

He didn't need to look up to know that he mother had just entered the kitchen.

"I want to hear you read that to me when you get done writing it." His mother said with a hint of her critical nature towards James in her voice.

"So you can tear it down?" James asked without removing his eyes from the paper.

He didn't need to see his mom to know that she rolled her eyes and want over to the fridge to grab a yogurt. He then heard Patrick come in, out of breath in his sleeveless shirt after running a few miles like he did every day. After all, he needed to be in shape for college soccer.

When James' mom saw him come in, her face instantly brightened, "So, Patrick, how was your mile?"

"Fantastic." He said with his cocky, douche-bag grin that made James detest him with a passion. He kept jogging in place as he turned to James, "'Sup bro?"

"What's up." James muttered without looking up.

"What are you writing?" Patrick asked, walking over and peering over his shoulder.

"Nothing it's….it's just a eulogy for Caroline's funeral."

Patrick didn't say anything, he just nodded and then pointed at the paper, "You spelled "friend" wrong."

James looked to see that he did put the "e" before the "i" and shrugged, "So what, it's not like I'm handing this in for a grade. I'm reading it to express my feelings for Caroline and what she meant to me. How Caroline and me had a bond that could never be broken, even in death."

"Caroline and I, not "me and Caroline"," Patrick continued critiquing, which made James clench his teeth and grip the pencil with pure rage that he tried to repress. "Maybe you should type this thing up on your computer so you can use spell-check."

"Thank you Patrick for your, _oh so helpful_ advice." James muttered as he stood up from his seat and grabbed the pencil and paper, "Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to go up to my room and actually pretend that things that I do in this house are valued."

With that, James walked out of the room, giving his mother the time she needed to suck up to Patrick's "greatness". When James reached his room and shut the door, he saw Fluttershy standing in front of the small window beside James' bed.

He wasn't sure what she was doing until he saw the row of birds perched on the awning. They were chirping to an apparent tune that was very well orchestrated.

"That's it. My, you're sounding so wonderful." Fluttershy said happily to the birds. "Maybe just a teeny bit quieter though…i- if you don't mind."

James sighed and placed the paper and pencil down onto his desk and turned to Fluttershy, "Hey Fluttershy?"

She jumped at the sound of his voice and turned around. She was breathing heavily in and out while her eyes were wide with fear, as if she expected to see a dragon behind her. When she saw that it was only James, she let out a sigh of relief and calmed herself down.

"Oh James, I….um….I was just training some of the birds here to sing, I hope you're okay with that." She said nervously, pawing at the carpet with her hoof like she usually did.

James chuckled, "Yeah of course I am. Just make sure none of them crap on my widow."

"Okay James, thank you so much." Fluttershy said with her cutest face. She turned back to the birds and began to train them some more, "All right you guys; let's take it from the top, one, two, three…"

The birds began to chirp in unison their beautiful song as James sat at his desk and continued to write the eulogy. He began to think, tapping the eraser of the pencil against his chin as he did so. He currently had a good length for the speech, but he wanted to make sure it sounded good as well. He didn't trust his parents' opinion, as he knew that they'd shoot down everything that he came up with, and Patrick wasn't much better.

He bit his lip as he kept trying to think of who he could recite it to. As he thought this, he felt something tap him on the shoulder. He turned around to see Fluttershy looking at him nervously, "Um James….do you mind if you….read that for me?"

James looked at her with confusion before he looked down at the eulogy and pointed to it, "Y-you mean the eulogy?"

Fluttershy nodded, "Yes…but only if you want to. I don't want to pressure you into doing anything that you aren't comfortable doing. I would just really love to hear what you wrote about your cousin."

James chuckled, "That's great, Fluttershy. I've actually been meaning to get an honest opinion on it."

He grabbed the paper and sighed, but then he looked up at Fluttershy, "The thing is, though, I don't like reciting anything until I'm sure that what I'm reciting is well-written. So," he handed the paper to her, "if you don't mind. Could you read through it and tell me how it sounds?"

Fluttershy nodded and took the paper in her mouth. She set it down onto the floor and sat on her flank to read it. James watched nervously as her eyes moved from right to left across the paper, reading his heart and soul's work.

James went over to the window and saw that the birds were gone. He shook his head and gave a small chuckle as he thought about her uncanny ability with animals that even the best animal whisperer could only hope to come close to achieving. James then turned around to see Fluttershy tearing up.

"F-Fluttershy, are you okay?" James asked nervously.

She looked up at him with her eyes full of tears and gave a small nod. "Yes I am, it's just….." and she said something else but James couldn't quite make it out, much like when Twilight first asked her what her name was.

"W-what, I'm sorry I didn't catch that."

She mumbled again, and, like before, James didn't know what she said.

"Fluttershy, I'm sorry I can't...what are you saying?"

And then Fluttershy looked up at James for a second before she bolted over to him. She wrapped her legs around him and began to cry into his leg and then she finally muttered, at a volume that James could finally hear, "It was so beautiful."

James was stunned at her reaction, "R-really?"

Fluttershy nodded. She looked up from his leg and gave him a small smile, "Oh yes. You write beautifully James."

James now was blushing. He never got any compliments like this before from anyone, and to hear Fluttershy tell him such kind things made him suddenly have a feeling of joy and self-accomplishment.

"Thanks Fluttershy," he said, "but what about the grammar? Are there any issues with it?"

"Only a few," Fluttershy said as she looked down, seeming to feel bad that she gave him a critique. But she looked back up at him with a smile, "but those can be fixed. It's the message that counts, and you're speech had me to tears."

James smiled at Fluttershy and got down to hug her. For the first time, Fluttershy didn't shy away from his embrace. On the contrary, she instantly hugged him back.

"Thank you Fluttershy." James said as he held onto her tightly, much like he did the night before.

But now he was doing it out of happiness that he had written a good eulogy for Caroline and that Fluttershy was so moved by it and gave him such praise. He never felt such appreciation from anyone in his life as he did from Fluttershy at that moment.

**Carl's House**

Carl sat in the kitchen with his phone pressed to his ear, Ryan on the other line. Ryan had thankfully been the bigger man and accepted Carl's apology. Carl really wanted to apologize to Ryan face-to-face, but also didn't want to risk being spied on by people who could be scoping out Ryan's house. But during his conversation with Ryan, he found out that it wouldn't have worked anyway, as he was now in a hotel with his parents and Rainbow Dash.

"So you and your parents are at a hotel now?"

"_Yeah we're at the Grand Hotel off of I-90. Do you know where that is?"_

"Yeah we had our trophy presentation there a few years ago after winning that soccer tournament."

"_Oh yeah, wasn't that after we beat South Brighton when Louis played for them?"_

Carl raised an eyebrow, "Wait? Louis played for South Brighton?"

"_Yeah he lived there for a few years before he moved to Wilmont. Don't you remember he got into a fight with James over a penalty and they were both given red cards? That's why we beat them."_

Carl gave a small laugh and muttered, "So we have met before."

"_Yeah we have. Why is that significant?"_

"Yeah, remember? Princess Celestia said that all of us Elements knew each other and I didn't remember ever meeting Louis, but apparently we did at that tournament."

"_Oh yeah, and weren't Pete and Alex on our team?"_

"Yeah."

"_Wow, my mind has been blown."_

Carl and Ryan both laughed.

"Listen man, I've got to go. I'll talk to you later."

"_All right Carl."_

"Also Ryan," Carl let out a deep sigh, "I'm really sorry again for how I acted."

"_It's cool man."_

"_I still don't forgive him."_ Came the familiar voice of Rainbow Dash.

"Is that Rainbow Dash?"

Ryan laughed, _"Yeah she's a little less compassionate than me."_

"_You're gonna have to do more than just apologize for me to forgive you for calling Ryan a freak."_

"Okay Rainbow Dash," Carl said with a chuckle at her stubborn nature, "Ryan you know you're lucky to have a girl who's so willing to protect your honor?"

"_Yep, that's why I love her." _Ryan laughed a bit, _"I'll talk to you later man."_

"All right, peace."

Carl hung up and put his phone back into his pocket. He got up from the table and went back upstairs to see Twilight sitting up in his bed with a small, but still tired, smile on her face.

Carl chuckled, "Did you sleep well?"

She nodded sleepily, "Yep, I did."

"Good to hear."

Twilight let a small yawn escape her, "Did Ryan accept your apology?"

"Yeah, thank God." Carl chuckled, "Rainbow Dash wasn't as forgiving though."

"Not too surprised about that." Twilight said with a warm smile that always melted Carl's heart. He walked over to her and leaned over so they could kiss each other.

"Twilight!" came a voice from down the hall.

As they heard this, they both broke the kiss and began to act like they weren't up to anything romantic when Spike burst into Carl's room. Both were looking away from each other, blushing like crazy. But Spike seemed really anxious so he didn't seem to take notice.

Twilight sighed, "What is it Spike?"

Spike held out a scroll, "The Princess just sent a letter for you."

Twilight used her magic and un-scrolled it in mid-air. She read it over and her eyes went wide.

She looked over at Carl, "Carl, you need to go speak to my Uncle."

Carl looked at her, "Bright Illusion?"

Twilight nodded. "The Princess says it's urgent."

**Mr. Courtie's Magic Shop- Later**

Carl nearly sprinted up to the door of the magic shop to see Mr. Courtie standing at the front, looking at him with anxiety. Carl slipped into the shop, "Mr. Courtie what's going on? Why did Princess Celestia tell me to come here?"

Mr. Courtie sighed and pointed to the back of the store, "Meet me in the back room."

Carl nodded and, without hesitation, ran into the back of the store. Mr. Courtie went to the front of the shop and turned the sign from "OPEN" to "CLOSED".

He then slowly made his way back to his back room, where Carl was standing, waiting for him. He got inside and sat down at his desk chair.

"Carl," he began, "I've heard that you've found all six elements. The other three's names are Alex, Pete and Louis, correct?"

Carl nodded.

"Yeah how did you know?"

"Princess Celestia told me. Remember, she's watching over you all so she knows when you find the Elements and who they are." Mr. Courtie said before he let out a sigh, "but that's not the only reason I called Carl. The Princess told me something else."

"What?"

Mr. Courtie bit his lip, "Did you all get into an argument last night?"

Carl didn't immediately respond to the question, worried about where this conversation was headed. Slowly he nodded and Mr. Courtie buried his head into his hands, "No, ugh that's the one thing we didn't want." He muttered to himself.

"Why?"

Mr. Courtie looked up at Carl and gave a small, but dark, chuckle, "Why do you think? You and your friends are the representations of the Elements of Harmony, Carl. The things that form in friendship, and right now, you look more like the elements of disharmony. Do you understand what arguments like the one you had last night can do? They can make Discord stronger."

"I know; the argument shouldn't have happened. But I've made amends with Ryan and am going to do so with Alex," Carl said, "not to mention I have to still convince Louis to help us."

"That's good." Mr. Courtie said, "But listen the Princess really wanted me to see you so I could emphasize the importance that the bond between you and your friends have. If it breaks in any way, as it did last night based on what I heard, all hope could be lost. You must make sure ammends are made and that you don't get into another fight like that again while Discord is here."

Carl nodded in understanding.

Mr. Courtie let out asigh of releif, "Great, now that that's over, where is Ryan now? I've heard that Discord put a spy on him to track his moves."

Carl nodded, "He evacuated his house."

Mr. Courtie sighed, "That's good to hear. Where is he exactly?"

"I think the Grand Hotel off of I-90, why."

"I need to know where all of the elements are." Mr. Courtie nodded. "So, Carl, I can count on you to bring the group back together as fast as possible, right? Because Discord is planning something very soon, I'm sure of it."

"How soon?"

"I don't know," Mr. Courtie said sadly, "but tonight, I want you to talk to everyone and unify them."

Carl nodded, "I will. I'll send out a mass Facebook message."

Mr. Courtie nodded and gave a smile, "That's what I like to hear. Our fate lies in the strength of your friendship, so get going."

Carl nodded and ran out of the store to his car. Mr. Courtie's smile slowly faded as he walked back to his room and sat at his desk. He stared at the wall blankly before closing his eyes.

_"You'd better hurry Carl,"_ Mr. Courtie thought, _"I can feel chaos increasing already."_

**Alex's House- Evening**

"Now hold ya face still so ah can clean it up."

"Okay."

Applejack was using a dampened rag to clean Alex's face off from the night before. There was also a bottle of rubbing alcohol out on the counter that she was planning to use.

Alex thought about the events of the last night after he got home with Applejack. As soon as they got upstairs to Alex's room, they heard his step-father came home in his usual, drunken stupor and started to beat his mother.

Once again, after he told Applejack to stay put, he went downstairs only to face a familiar situation to the ones that he always faced when his step-father came home.

Alex stood up for his mother, step-father turned attention from mother and starts to beat up Alex, and Alex's mom left the room to wash off her own wounds and leave her son to her husband's wrath.

Same shit; different night.

Back to the present, Alex felt much better as Applejack began to wash his wounds off for him, mainly one large cut on his cheek. Alex did clean it off and put gauze on it the night before, but Applejack wasn't impressed with his work and took matters into her own hooves to clean the wounds off the next day. She removed the gauze and began to clear the area of dried blood and other germs that accumulated there from the night before. Alex was happy that there was someone there for him when he needed comfort, and Applejack had proven to be that person…or pony in this case.

"Ya know ya should have told me to come downstairs. I would have protected ya."

"No, AJ. I don't want them to see you." He muttered, "Besides, ya could get hurt too."

"Nice little accent change," Applejack gave a small chuckle as she heard Alex slip into his Texan accent. She then continued to clean up the wound, "but ah don' care. If yer father…"

"…._step_-father."

"…step-father does this ta ya again, ah'm gonna have ta go down an' buck him mahself."

Alex smiled, "I wouldn't put it past ya either."

Applejack put some cleaning alcohol on the wound which made Alex grimace in pain.

She quickly pulled back and her face showed concern, "Sorry, did ah hurt ya?"

"No, it just burns a little bit." Alex said as his grimace relaxed and he eventually smiled became a smile as he laughed, "It ironic, really. One type of alcohol causes my wounds, and another helps heal them. And they both hurt like hell."

"Ya sound like a philosopher." Applejack said with a chuckle.

Alex returned the smile with one of his own before they kissed. They then hugged each other as the continued to kiss as if they had been in a long-term relationship rather than just one that was not even two days old. They broke the kiss and looked into each other's' eyes before Applejack got back to cleaning up Alex.

Once Applejack was finished, they both went back into Alex's room. Alex went onto Facebook and saw a message from Carl asking to meet at the mall for dinner.

Alex groaned.

"What is it?" Applejack asked as she trotted over to the computer and looked on the screen. When she saw Carl's message, her face turned into a scowl. "What in the hay does he want?"

"Apparently he wants to meet for dinner and try to get us to reconnect."

Applejack sighed, "He is a jerk, but he's right. Y'all need ta make up if y'ar gonna defeat Discord. After all, we were only able ta beat him when we were unified"

Alex nodded and began to search Facebook for Pete's page, as he was "friends" with him, "I'm gonna ask Pete to come with me." He muttered, "Otherwise I'll want to beat the snot out of him."

"Ah'll do it regardless," Applejack said with a snarl.

Alex just laughed at that and put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him, much like a boyfriend would do with his girlfriend, "Yeah that probably wouldn't be the best idea AJ."

"Ya think ah care? Ya mess with mah coltfriend, yer gonna be in a world of pain."

Alex blushed at being called her coltfriend and at how protective she was of him. After all, it showed that she really cared about him. Smiling, he continued with his task by typing out an e-mail to Pete. Once he sent it, he turned back to Applejack.

"Ready for another trip to the mall?"

"Again?" she asked and Alex gave her a nod. Applejack rolled her eyes. "Geez, don't y'all ever meet anywhere else?"

"Nope." Alex said in a way that sounded like Big Macintosh, and this did not get by Applejack who gave Alex a questioning look.

"Did ya just imitate mah brother?" Applehack asked.

Alex looked at her and smiled before giving her a big nod, "Eeyup."

Applejack burst out into a fit of giggles as Alex just grinned at her.

"Alex ya really are somethin' else."

They laughed a little bit more before they both calmed down. Once they did so, Applejack leaned into Alex's ear and whispered, "But ah am still serious about wantin' to buck Carl when ah see him."

"I know." Alex said with a smirk before they gave each other a small kiss.

**Pete's House**

"Pete what did you want to do tonight?" Pete's mother asked him as she began to clean the table off from their dinner.

"I don't know." Pete muttered as he put his dish into the sink and began to head upstairs to his room where Pinkie Pie waited for him, "I don't really feel like doing anything to be honest with you."

Pete's mom sighed, "You know, you really should have some friends to call over the weekend. It shouldn't just be me and your father. I like having such a friendly relationship with you, but it isn't good to be only hanging out with us."

"The kids are all jerks." Pete muttered.

Pete's mom walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder and gave him a re-assuring smile. Pete just kept his head down.

"Honey I know what happened when you were sick was terrible," she said as Pete looked up at her. "But you have to move on. Not all of the kids are like that."

"Yes they are." He muttered.

His mother sighed and hugged Pete, "But you know that your father and I will always be there for you when you need us. I can promise you that."

Pete smiled and hugged his mom back, "Thanks Mom."

With that, they broke the hug and Pete ran upstairs to his room to find Pinkie Pie looking at him with a strange, inquisitive look.

"What's up Pinkie?" Pete asked.

"What were you sick with?" she asked.

Pete froze and looked over at her, shocked that she had been eaves-dropping.

"W-what?"

"I said," Pinkie said as she walked over to him.

Not bounced, walked.

"Why did your mom say you were sick? What was wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Please tell me." Pinkie said with big, pleading, puppy dog eyes.

"Pinkie, look I really don't like talking about how my illness ruined every aspect of my life besides my relationship with my parents, so can we please drop it?" Pete asked.

Pinkie nodded, "Okay, we can drop it Petey, you don't have to tell me if you aren't comfortable with it."

Pete nodded, "Thank you."

He sighed and walked over to his computer and went on Facebook. He saw a message from Alex, who was asking him to meet with him and Carl at the mall because if he was alone with Carl he'd probably beat the shit out of him.

Also, he told him to bring Pinkie Pie so the girls could talk in private.

"Hey Pinkie?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to go to the mall later?"

Pinkie's sad face lit up and she bounced over to Pete, "Pete that sounds really super cool!"

Pete smiled, "Okay I'll call Alex to pick us up."

"Yay!" Pinkie said as she hugged Pete. Pete was frozen as she did so, not expecting such a reaction from her. As she broke the hug, she bounced back to his bed and began to rant on and on about how she wanted to get a big ice-cream sundae once everyone made up.

But Pete was too busy thinking about something else, something that concerned him. When Pinkie Pie hugged him, he felt happier than he had in a long time. But it wasn't just the hug. It was her general care-free attitude that he missed having when he was younger. It was her desire to help him out by getting to the bottom of a problem, even if he really didn't want to discuss it.

It was at that moment that he realized he might be falling for her. And, much like Carl, the idea of falling for one of the mane six frightened him.

**Deli (This scene was inspired by the trailer for "The Dark Knight Rises")**

It was early in the evening as people began to return home until the village was nearly dead, save for the local bar where workers went to go relieve the stresses of the day. The deli was almost empty, except for one customer who was currently at the register ordering some ham. That's when Lawrence entered and walked right up to the cashier.

"Excuse me, I was here first." The customer said. Lawrence glared angrily at the customer, who took astep back in fear, before he turned to the cashier.

"Yes, can I have a sandwich with that special meat and mustard that you provide?"

The cashier looked at the boy, "What kind of meat?"

"Grade A." and he showed the cashier his Discord tattoo that was on his hand. He then added, in a very low whisper, "As in anarchy."

The cashier nodded and gestured for Lawrence to come back with him. Lawrence followed with an malicious smile on his face. Once in the back, they went down a flight of stairs and reached a large, metal, sound-proof door.

The cashier knocked and after a few seconds, the door opened to reveal a few dozen teenagers inside. This room, and former meat fridge, that was made larger to become the official meeting place for the "Milites Chaos", or "Army of Chaos", which was the underground Anarchist Union of Wilmont. Every person in the room was in an age range from 15 to 23, wore tattered, black clothing, some sported black headbands and some sported black eye-shadow. Many of them also had masks, whether the mask was bandana to put around the lower half of the face, or a full-fledged mask, they had them. They were smoking, swearing, drinking, and loading up weapons for a night of terror that they had planned.

Lawrence smiled and looked up at a large, yellow banner that had the motto in red letters, that hung in the middle of the room.

The motto read: "In iuventus Valete; Discordia est rex"; which was Latin for "The Youth will Prevail, Discord is King". Now, most of these kids were part of the local gangs even before discord arrived. But once he got there, he managed to unite them under the one thing that they all stood for, anarchy and chaos to the system.

Lawrence whistled to get the attention of everyone in the room. They all turned to look at him with eager faces. Lawrence gave a small smile.

"My fellow anarchists, tonight is the night that we show those rich bastards in Leigh Heights what the poor and middle class are capable of if they're backed into a corner by their tyranny."

Lawrence raised his hand into the air to signal the salute of the "Milites Chaos"

"Hail Discord!" they all yelled.

"Discord and Obscure Darkness both gave us orders. They want us to storm that peaceful neighborhood and rain hell on them without mercy, just like they showed no mercy to us, and to the rest of the town."

Lawrence raised his hand again.

"Hail Discord!"

"Doctors who profit off of other people's illness and pain, lawyers who fight for criminals and murderers to be set free," Lawrence then stomped the ground with anger and shouted at an even louder volume, "BANKERS WHO FUCKED UP THIS ECONOMY AND SENT OUR FAMILIES INTO THE POOR- HOUSE! ALL LIVE IN THIS FUCKING NEIGHBORHOOD, LIVING FREE AND GOOD WHILE THE REST OF US SUFFER!"

Lawrence raised his hand.

"Hail Discord!"

"So tonight we go to Leigh Heights and show no mercy to those fuckers. Kill every last one of them, young and old alike. Show them how equality should never be forfeited!"

Lawrence raised his hand.

"Hail Discord!"

Lawrence smiled, "Let the war begin."

Once those words left Lawrence's mouth, everyone grabbed their guns and loaded them up, ready for the fight that was ahead. They also grabbed other weapons, such as baseball bats, make-shift molotov cocktails, crowbars, knives, and anything that could possibly be imagined. So many kids, all under Discord's power of influence and control. Finally, they were all ready and standing together, guns drawn and masks ready to be placed on their faces to give them the "anonymous anarchist" look. Lawrence gave a small smile, cocked his own shotgun, and held his right hand up in a fist and began to chant (I used Google translator, so I apologize if I butcher the Latin here):

_Resurgere in contereret,_

_Cadent de vastantium._

_Bellum aequalitas,_

_Bellum contra Class._

_Nocte nos Superius,_

_Nocte nos pugnare._

_In iuventus Valete,_

_Discordia est rex._

Everyone else began to follow along with the chant, eyes unblinking and sadistic smiles growing on their faces. The chant grew louder, and louder and louder, until it could be heard all the way at the front of the store by the, now very concerned, customer that was still in the process of paying for his sandwich.

As they exited the deli through the back door, their chant echoed into the night. The group of almost three dozen anarchists grew as they marched down the back streets, chanting their Latin chant, which signaled that it was time.

Everyday ordinary kids that were all from fifteen to their early twenties, began to put down whatever they were doing and run over to join the group as they heard the chant echo through the town. Once they caught up with the group, they were handed guns and masks. It was uncanny to watch the number of anarchists grow from roughly three dozen to almost one hundred. But what was the most surprising was how the gang was made up of the everyday teenagers and young citizens of Wilmont that carried on seemingly normal lives on the surface, but harbored sadistic sentiments just under the surface.

Everyone else became frightened by the sound of the chant. Even though they couldn't see the army of anarchists marching to their "war", as they were taking the back roads to Leigh Heights, the chant alone was enough to send shivers down their spines. Some even tried to call the cops due to their fear but none of their calls were put through. It was like all of the police officers decided to take the night off.

What really was the case, however, was that the cops were on the anarchists' side.

Lawrence smiled as he put a bandana over his face that was black and had a picture of a skull and cross-bones over it. Underneath the bandana, his mouth curled into a smile, pleased to see him leading the people who, he beleived, were going to change this town for the better, even if it was through chaos. He turned to see Sean and Lance putting their masks on, not stopping their chanting.

Lawrence again looked around at the crowd that he was leading. The army was all young, but both men and women were present. They hoisted their guns and weapons into the air asthey chanted. Most wore masks and black clothing, some with the Draconequus symbol on it.

Lawrence then turned back forward and held his gun up high and shouted the chant louder than everyone else. Soon, everyone held their guns even higher and chanted louder.

A chant that translated to:

"_Rise of the Oppressed,_

_Fall of the Oppressors._

_War for Equality,_

_War against Class._

_Tonight we Reign,_

_Tonight we fight._

_The Youth Will Prevail,_

_Discord is King."_

**Now the dark chapters will begin. And yes, they will most likely be pretty dark. Also, expect there to be violence in the near future, because the anarchists are on the rise.**

**And, as always, I hope you enjoyed this Chapter and please let me know what you thought.**

**Thanks again:)**

**Go Giants! Go Rainbow Dash!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Leigh Heights is Burning Down**

**Okay, just so you guys know, I changed the name because apparently there is a book that is already called the "The Wilmont Chronicles" by Paul Harrison. So if I re-write this at any point I'll change the name of the town as well (probably to "Glory" or something like that, but I'm not entirely sure. I would change the name, but seeing as I am 11 chapters in I'll leave it as Wilmont. Just know that I am sorry for unintentionally giving the story the same name, I feel really bad about it.**

**So, yeah if I do re-write it the town will be re-named. But for the rest of this fanfiction it will still be Wilmont. **

**I hope you enjoy this Chapter, as I have hoped that you'd enjoy the others as well.**

**And, as usual, only my OCs belong to me.**

**Mall- Night (Switch Between guys and mane 6 talking)**

The mall was very empty. Apparently most of the teens were busy doing something else because most of the shoppers and patrons were either families or people who were on the older end of the age spectrum.

Carl sat at a table in the food court with James, Pete and Alex. Ryan wasn't there because he, Rainbow Dash and his family had to remain in hiding, and this time, Ryan wasn't going to take any more stupid risks or complain with Rainbow Dash about getting cabin fever.

Louis, on the other hand, still wasn't sure about joining them so he didn't respond to the facebook message that Carl had sent him. He was still at home, having the mental battle of his selfish side versus his moral side.

So while not everyone was there, it was a good start for the group to re-connect after the argument that they got into the night before.

At another table that was next to the one that the four guys sat at, were Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie. All projected as human girls to people who were still at the mall, but, as before, they were able to be seen as ponies by the four guys.

They had just finished a meal from one of the burger joints, the girls got salads, and were discussing the meeting that Carl had with Mr. Courtie earlier that day.

"So Mr. Courtie said if we keep arguing like we did yesterday, Discord will get stronger?" Alex asked Carl with somewhat of an angry tone. After all, he was still mad at Carl for how he had treated him and Ryan the night before, and he hoped that Carl wasn't lying about what Mr. Courtie had told him just to be forgiven when he didn't deserve it.

"Yes." Carl muttered.

"How bad did he say it would get?" Pete asked.

"He didn't specify, but he sounded very worried." Carl said as he looked over at the other table where the girls were sitting. "The only thing I know is that sometime soon, something going to happen that's going to drive the entire town into chaos."

"Isn't this town fucked up enough without more chaos?" James asked, "I mean, we've got anarchist gangs, corrupt cops, a shitty economy. I mean, shit why don't we just move to Soviet Russia or Nazi Germany while we're at it?"

"We're talking about Discord here James," Alex muttered, "He feeds off of chaos, the more the better."

"Yeah but in Equestria he did things that would only be minor inconveniences here on Earth, so why should we worry about what he'll do? I'll take chocolate rain and soapy roads over anarchist gangs and crime any day." James added.

"Discord is different this time James," Carl muttered, "He isn't just a prankster or a troublemaker, he more than that."

"How so?"

"James, Twilight and Applejack were almost killed yesterday at the mall. Hell, that one bastard that confronted me said that Discord wants the girls dead. It's like our universe corrupted him into some sort of monster that is much worse than he was on the show."

"So basically he's become worse in order to keep up with the violent and chaos-loving people who already live here?" James asked.

Carl nodded, "Yeah."

James raised his eyebrows and reached for his soda, "That's so comforting to know." He then took a sip of the drink and placed the cup down, "Just so comforting."

"I think I love Pinkie Pie."

Everyone turned and stared at Pete, who had just blurted the random confession out of nowhere as, not surprisingly, those were some of the only words that he had said all night.

"That's cool man." Alex muttered before he shot a glare at Carl. Carl saw this and threw his arms up in defense.

"What? I already apologized for acting like a dick yesterday." he muttered.

Carl still didn't tell anyone about him and Twilight yet, as he wasn't ready to break the news that not only was hea jerk the night before, but he was also a gigantic hypocrite. Even though he apologized to Alex about how he acted, and he really was sorry, he was not as forgiving as Ryan was.

"It still doesn't change what you said." Alex grumbled.

Carl rolled his eyes and turned to Pete, "Anyway, Pete, are you going to tell her?"

Pete shook his head nervously.

"Why not?"

He seemed to be afraid of Carl and chose not to look at him.

Carl sighed, "Look, Pete, I really don't have a problem with you two hooking up. Pony and human relations don't bother me, I was just in a bad place last night"

Pete closed his eyes and sighed, "I'm still not telling her."

"But why?"

Pete gulped and whispered, "She'll get weirded out."

When they heard this, James and Alex both burst into a fit of hysterics. Pete's face just turned redder from the embarrassment of getting laughed at for having legitimate concern, but the two kept their laughter going until Alex was able to calm down enough to speak.

"Oh boy he-he," he said with one last chuckle, "Pete, you're talking about Pinkie Pie, I seriously doubt she'll freak out that you like her. Besides, she was fine with AJ and me, and Rainbow Dash and Ryan. Trust me you don't have anything to worry about."

"But I'm still scared." Pete muttered as he looked down at the table and the wrapping from the burger he just ate. He was on the verge of tears.

"Listen, Pete." Carl said as seriously as he possibly could to make up for Alex and James' boorish behavior, as well as his own behavior the night before, "I gave Ryan a suggestion to write a poem about Rainbow Dash to vent his feelings for her. If you don't want to tell her yet, I still think writing a poem about Pinkie Pie would be a good idea. When you're ready, you can just hand her what you wrote to prove how much she means to you. It would work better than telling her verbally because I know that would be difficult for someone as shy as you."

"Will that work?" Pete asked quietly as he looked up at Carl, who gave Pete a small nod. Pete sighed and then shrugged, "Okay…okay I'll give it a shot."

"There ya go." Carl said with a smile before he patted Pete on the back. He then turned to see James looking at a scrap of paper that he was holding up in his hands. His mouth was moving a bit as he silently read what he had written down.

"James, what are you doing?" Carl asked.

James didn't even bother to look up from the paper as he responded, "I'm reading the eulogy that I'm giving at Caroline's funeral tomorrow."

"Oh man I'm sorry. I forgot to tell you how sorry I am about that." Alex said with remorse.

"It's okay." James sighed, "She's not suffering anymore, and I like to believe that she's in a better place."

"Like heaven?" Pete asked quietly, to which James nodded without taking his eyes off of the paper.

"I thought you didn't believe in heaven?" Alex asked.

James looked up at Alex with an annoyed glare, "No you idiot I'm agnostic, not atheist. Jesus, why doesn't anyone seem to understand the difference?"

"Well," Carl said as he took a sip of his soda, "Mr. Courtie seemed to understand the difference _quite_ well."

James gave Carl a _"stink-eye"_ and Carl simply returned his expression with a smug smile of his own.

"You're a dick, you know that?" James hissed.

Carl shrugged, "I am who I am."

Alex and even Pete gave chuckled at this. James too cracked a smile before he popped a stray French-fry from his dinner into his mouth and continued to read over his eulogy.

Meanwhile, at the adjacent table, the girls were having their own conversation as they finished their salads.

"Ah can't believe ya and Carl hooked up after what he said ta Alex and Ryan!" Applejack said with a mix of shock and anger.

"AJ I already told you he is sorry about it," Twilight said, "and besides, he was angrier with himself than he was either of them."

"That don't change the fact that he was a jerk." Applejack muttered. She looked down with a scowl on her face.

"I just hope James isn't too worried about his speech for Caroline's funeral."

"Caroline? Who's that again?" Rarity asked.

"She is James' cousin….well…she was." Fluttershy muttered as she looked down sadly.

"Oh that's right," Rarity said as her face suddenly became sad, "I can't believe something like that happened to such a young girl."

"She's in a better place." Fluttershy whispered, "I know she is. She was a kind girl."

"I certainly hope so," Pinkie Pie said somberly, "Nopony should ever have to suffer so much in life just to have nothing in death."

There was a long silence before Rarity groaned and let her head flop onto the table. She then let out a sigh, "Oh Celestia! I want to see Louis again! It's simply dreadful to be the only one without a partner."

"You do have a partner Rarity," Twilight said as she placed are-assuring hoof onto her friend's foreleg, "He just needs to find his way."

"But what if he doesn't?" she mumbled as her face was pressed against the table.

"Oh Rarity, you need to be optimistic!" Pinkie Pie said with a grin, "Louis will be back I'm sure of it."

Rarity peeked up from the table so half of her face was visible. A small tear was in her eye from crying. "You…you think so?"

"I know so!"

"So do I." Fluttershy mumbled with a reassuring smile.

"Ah do as well." Applejack added.

"Rarity," Twilight said with a big smile, "trust us, he will be back. Trust me; his conscience will bother him until he comes back. He made a mistake, but he's only mortal…and in this case human, like Carl. In the end they know right from wrong and will always make the moral choice."

**Leigh Heights **

Screams rang out from every corner of the neighborhood, accompanied by the sounds of gunfire and explosions.

The Milites Chaos stormed down the street. Some, like Lawrence, simply marched at a slow pace and admired the work of the other members of their army of anarchists as they ran from house to house and broke in to find their victims.

Lawrence smiled from under his mask as he saw middle-aged man was thrown from his second-story window and landed head-first onto the lawn. His wife was screaming in the room that he was thrown from as she watched him fall out of the window. She lunged to the window for her husband, but was grabbed and thrown to the floor by one of the anarchists that was also in the room with her. That was when one of the anarchists shot her in the head, silencing her for good.

The chant continued to ring out all across Leigh Heights:

_Resurgere in contereret,_

_Cadent de vastantium._

_Bellum aequalitas,_

_Bellum contra Class._

_Nocte nos Superius,_

_Nocte nos pugnare._

_In iuventus Valete,_

_Discordia est rex._

Sean grabbed a makeshift Molotov cocktail that was clipped to a sash that he wore across his chest. Sean used his silver lighter and lit the rag that hung from it. He looked around to find a victim when he sawa car heading his way. The man driving had fear in his eyes as he sped down the road, trying to get out of the neighborhood and away from the chaos while he still had a chance. When he saw Sean with the lit Molotov cocktail directly in front of him, the driver quickly threw on the brakes top stop his car.

Lawrence held up his shut-gun, pumped it, and fired through the windshield of the car. The shell of the gun hit the driver directly in the head and instantly killed him. With a devious smile on his face, Sean threw the Molotov cocktail at the car's hood. Once the bottle hit its mark and shattered, flames instantly began to spread over the outside, and then inside, of the car.

Lawrence motioned for Sean and Lance to continue down the street. As they walked away, they heard an explosion behind them as the car was engulfed in a horrific, orange ball of fire. Lawrence didn't flinch, as his focus was all on getting to Ryan's house for Obscure Darkness and Discord.

They walked down the road as the screams continued to ring into the night. People were still being shot and thrown from windows as the Latin chant echoed on…and on…and on.

Soon, the Milites Chaos began to set the large, expensive houses on fire. Soon, the darkness of night disappeared, replaced by bright light that radiated from the flames that rose into the sky like great, big columns of death and destruction.

Once he reached Ryan's house, Lawrence stopped in front Ryan's parked SUV, which was still in front of the lawn. He smiled and pumped his shot-gun a few times before he fired a few shells into the car. He was pleased just by causing damage to something that Ryan owned. Hell, everything and anything bad that he did to Ryan made him feel warm and happy on the inside.

Once he felt like he shot the car full of holes enough, Lawrence lowered the gun.

"Sean, take care of this piece of shit car." He muttered as he walked off to the house with Lance.

Sean grinned as he grabbed another Molotov cocktail from his sash, lit it, and dropped it inside of the truck. He ran up to the others as Ryan's car began to burn.

Lawrence shot the door-knob and kicked the door in. He and the others walked into the house, which was dark from being abandoned earlier that day.

Lawrence looked around and shouted, "Ryan! Come out, come out!"

When no one answered, he grinned and decided to call Ryan's parents, "Mr. and Mrs. Davis? It's Laurie! I thought I'd make up for how badly I treated your son over the past few years!"

He fired a shot into the ceiling, hoping to lure somebody out with fear. His expression fell as no one appeared. He quickly ran up the stairs to see if he could find anyone. He searched every room on the second floor before he realized that no one was in the house.

Lawrence re-appeared at the top of the stairs.

"He isn't here; the little fucker and his parents aren't here." He spat in frustration,

"Where'd they go?" Lance asked.

Lawrence clenched his teeth and stomped the ground repeatedly in anger before shouting, "Ryan!" He kicked the air in front of him and punched the wall.

Once he calmed down a bit, Lawrence stomped down the stairs and, as he passed by Sean and Lance, he muttered, "Burn this fucking place to the ground."

They nodded and proceeded to run out of the house to find an anarchist outside that still had some gasoline left on them. Lawrence also exited the house and looked around at the chaos in the rest of the neighborhood, which made him feel better about the lack of Ryan. The neighborhood continued to burn on into the night.

**Hotel- Night**

Ryan lay awake in one of the two beds that were in the hotel room that he and Rainbow Dash shared. His parents slept in the room next-door, as they checked out two separate rooms. This privacy allowed Ryan and Rainbow Dash to sleep in the same bed rather than be in opposite beds. They held each other like they did every night, and it still was comforting to each of them, but Ryan still couldn't go to sleep.

He had a feeling that something bad was coming their way, and he wasn't sure what that would be. He was scared, petrified of the mysterious terror that could be lurking in his future.

But every time he felt Rainbow Dash move a little in her sleep, he remembered that she was there with him, and they would look out for one another. She would fight for him, and he would fight for her.

Ryan smiled and kissed Rainbow Dash on the top of her head as she continued to sleep. Then Ryan finally fell asleep.

**Carl's House**

Once he got home, Carl went straight for bed with Twilight. Anna, Lisa and Spike were all asleep, as was Lauren. Once they reached Carl's room, both he and Twilight collapsed onto the mattress, thoroughly exhausted.

Slowly, they both made their way under the covers and embraced each other.

"Why am I so tired?" Carl groaned.

"We had a busy day." Twilight said with a smile. She gave a big yawn and kissed Carl. He began to kiss her back, finally able to show her his feelings after hiding them the entire day so nobody would know. It was nice to finally be free to express themselves in the privacy of Carl's room.

As they broke the kiss, Carl sighed, "I have a bad feeling that some serious shit is about to go down."

Twilight nuzzled against Carl, "Well then, we'll have to take care of it, right?"

Carl smiled, "Right."

**THE NEXT MORNING**

**Hotel **

Ryan and Rainbow Dash lay in one of the two beds of the hotel room. After finishing breakfast, they were both reading TGWTDT together. Rainbow Dash leaned against Ryan, her rainbow mane pressed against his shoulder as she read along.

His parents went to the Grocery story for some food, which they would bring into their room once they came back. Until then, Ryan and Rainbow Dash spent the morning together, eating,watching television and, eventually, reading.

Ryan started to read to Rainbow Dash, but she eventually wanted to do it was well, saying that she "would read it better" than him.

He didn't complain, but he still did want to read a little so they agreed to take turns reading the book out loud to each other. Rainbow Dash finished reading a chapter and let out a sigh.

"Dashie are you okay?" Ryan asked as he looked down at her.

She nodded, "Yes I am. I just…can we do something else?"

Ryan nodded, "Yeah, like what?"

Rainbow Dash looked down at her hooves, "Well I kind of wanted to go flying."

Ryan nodded, "Okay. Yeah, if you stay out of sight you can go out. I'll open the window for you." He said as he began to get out of bed but she stopped him.

Ryan turned to her and she shook her head, "But, at the same time I don't want to leave you here."

"It's only a little flying Dashie, I'll be fine." Ryan said with a reassuring smile. Rainbow Dash gave a small smile before she flew up into the air above the bed. Ryan went over to the window and opened it for her.

"Thanks Ryan."

Ryan nodded, "No prob."

Rainbow Dash started out, but then stopped in mid-flight. She turned back around to look at Ryan, "You know I really do wish you could fly with me, that wasn't just me being schmaltzy."

There was a hint of sadness to her voice as she said this. Ryan smiled, "I know Dashie, you already made that clear. And I really wish that I could fly with you."

"And I know that you'd make a really handsome Pegasus, with an awesome mane and cutie mark."

Ryan blushed as Rainbow Dash gave him her cute smile that always made him go into _d'awwwwwww_ mode. She then started to fly off into the clouds at her typical, high-velocity when Ryan shouted at him.

"Hey Dashie!" She quickly stopped and turned around. She looked back at Ryan to see him smiling at her. "Show me why you're called the fastest flier in Equestria."

She suddenly perked up and gave a big, cocky grin, "Ha! Like you don't already know why! Get ready to be amazed!"

Ryan laughed at her arrogance before she zoomed off into the sky. She began to do some tricks and fly at speeds that most Air Force pilots would envy. Ryan thought for a second, thinking that something was missing. He then realized what he was thinking of and went over to his backpack. He took out his iPod and put the ear buds into his ears. Once he got back to the window and began to play "Test Drive" again. He began to feel longing as he watched her show off her moves to him.

He felt like he belonged up there in the air with her. Scratch that, he _knew_ that he did.

As the song played, he began to imagine himself flying with her, trying to keep up with her as she jokingly teased him to hurry up. He imagined flying right beside her, eventually embracing her in mid-air and kissing her, just like in his dream.

Once the song stopped, he snapped out of his trance to see Rainbow Dash waving at him. He slowly waved back before letting out a depressed sigh.

"Ryan! Rainbow Dash!"

Ryan turned around to see his parents walk into their room. He took his ear-phones out and threw his iPod onto the dresser, acting like nothing was going on. His parents were carrying multiple bags that held groceries.

"Hey Mom, Dad."

"Hi Ryan, where's Rainbow Dash?" his father asked, scanning the room for the mare.

"She's outside flying." Ryan said, pointing to the window.

"Flying?" Ryan's mother asked with confusion.

"Yeah, she's a Pegasus, remember?"

His mother thought for a second before she nodded and then continued to unpack the groceries. After a while, Ryan heard a knock at the window and turned to see Rainbow Dash waiting to be let back into the room.

Ryan walked over and opened the window. Rainbow Dash gave Ryan a small, grateful smile, "Thanks."

She flew into the room and Ryan shut the window behind her.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Davis." She said in a cheerful voice, "how was shopping."

"It went well Rainbow Dash." Ryan's mother said happily.

Ryan was thoroughly relieved at how fast his parents adjusted to the knowledge of her presence in reality. They went from being in shock at the sight of her, if not a little scared of her, to being completely welcoming to her.

"Rainbow Dash, we weren't sure what you liked to eat, but we bought a lot of fruit because you are a vegetarian, right?" Ryan's mother asked.

"Yep, and fruit is great. Thanks Mrs. Davis."

"Honey you don't have to be so formal with me, call me Mom." Ryan's mother said with a smile.

Rainbow Dash gave a small smile and nodded, "Thanks Mom."

Ryan went over to the television and grabbed the remote. He turned the television on and changed to the local news station.

Ryan's jaw dropped and the remote fell to the floor. "Oh no."

Rainbow Dash and Ryan's parents all turned to the television to see what Ryan was gaping at.

On the news, there were images of Leigh Heights engulfed in flames as fire fighters began to put the fires out.

The female reported said: _"Eighty-seven people are dead and thirty-two hospitalized after a series of fires erupted in Leigh Heights. No one knows what exactly sparked the fire, but the fire department is saying that it was most likely caused by a gas leak or a lone arsonist."_

"I can't believe it." Ryan's mother muttered. "You were right Ryan."

Ryan's dad patted her on the back to calm her down. She let out a sigh and continued to un-pack the food, still taken aback by the images of their neighborhood burning.

"That's bullshit." Ryan spat, "That wasn't a lone arsonist or a gas leak; that was Discord. The media's covering it up."

"W-what's going on? What's all of that?" Rainbow Dash asked with a shaky voice, looking at the horrific images that flashed on the television.

"That's chaos in our world Dashie."

"That's not just chaos!" she said in shock with her hoof to her mouth, "that's beyond chaos! That's war!"

"War is chaos on Earth. For you ponies it's chocolate rain, for us it's death. Trust me, we'd kill for the chaos you had when Discord attacked Equestria."

Rainbow Dash looked down and slowly flew back over to the bed and lay on it. She was curled up in a fetal position, shaking in fear for what she just saw. Ryan walked over to her and began to stroke her, "Dashie it's okay, it's going to be okay. We're safe here"

Ryan's father went down to the car to grab more groceries, still with a nervous look on his face even if he didn't let hisscared wife see it. Ryan's mom was still in the room and putting the groceries that she got for Ryan and Rainbow Dash into their room's fridge, trying not to look at the television for fear that she would break down. She then looked up to see her son and Rainbow Dash on the bed and took note of how much Ryan seemed to care about her, how he was trying to comfort her after seeing the news.

It wasn't like Ryan or his mom weren't scared themselves, but they weren't as shaken as Rainbow Dash. After all, Earth had violence like this all of the time, but Equestria, while not completely peaceful, was a lot more peaceful than Earth could ever be.

Ryan hugged Rainbow Dash to comfort her as she shook in his embrace. He sighed and closed his eyes and began to sing.

"_Somewhere over the rainbow_

_Way up high_

_And the dreams that you dreamed of_

_Once in a lullaby ii ii iii_

_Somewhere over the rainbow_

_Blue birds fly_

_And the dreams that you dreamed of_

_Dreams really do come true ooh ooooh…"_

As he continued to sing he could feel her shaking start to slow down, so he started to quiet his singing down until he heard her begin to sing along with him.

Slowly, her voice picked up so both Ryan and her were singing the song quietly to one another. Ryan's mother watched in amazement at the comfort that both of them seemed to be giving each other before she got back to unpacking the groceries.

**Cemetery- Caroline's Funeral**

James was nervous as hell.

He kept wringing his hands together, the tattered paper folded up in his left hand, ready to be opened for his speech. His parents were there to listen to him, to judge him. In his pocket was one of Fluttershy's yellow feathers, which she had given to him so that he could put it into Caroline's coffin as a final "good-bye" from her. He reached into his pocket to make sure it was still there. When he felt its smooth, fuzzy texture, he sighed and slowly pulled his hand out of his pocket and looked back up to watch his Aunt Christie finish her own eulogy. Once she finished it, she stepped down to the open casket; he knew his time was near. Aunt Christie bent down and kissed Caroline's forehead, tears and pain in her eyes. James let out a sigh and stood up, heading up to the podium as his Uncle Hank helped his aunt back to her seat.

James got to the podium and let out another deep sigh, trying his best not to spontaneously burst into tears. It washard, though. Especially with Caroline laying in an open casket, and alarge, blown-up picture of her next to the coffin on a tri-pod stand. James cleared his throat and was about to begin when, he caught sight of his parents in the crowd. Suddenly, the thoughts of their criticism filled his mind and petrified him in fear.

He thought of how they always criticized his public speaking ability, how they always compared his writing that he did for school to Patrick's, how they told him not to screw up before they left for the funeral that day.

Yes, they told him that.

And he now understood why people would rather be the one in the casket than the one that gives the eulogy.

James was frozen in distress at the situation, unable to utter a syllable of his eulogy until he saw something yellow and pink in a tree nearby. He looked up to see where Fluttershy was sitting, as he had managed to sneak her into the car and then let her out without his parents noticing. She was hidden from most in the mass of leaves that adorned the tree branches, but James saw her clear as day.

Her big, reassuring eyes and small smile made James feel more confident in his ability to deliver the eulogy. So he cleared his throat and began:

"There was no one in this world like Caroline. She was one of a kind….a pure soul untainted by the rest of this world. I remember going over to her house after school every day when I was eleven and she was six. We'd watch television together, hang out….she was really mature for her age…but she still had the innocence of a child." James said, looking up at Fluttershy, "a kindness that no one I've ever known…well, until recently…" Fluttershy blushed and backed up a bit into the leaves from embarrassment after James' compliment, "…has ever possessed."

James closed his eyes and pulled the feather out of his pocket and twirled it around in his hand as he began to cry softly. He eulogy notes dampened with tears as he finally looked up at the crowd and continued, "I was a wreck when I found out she passed on. Heck, I still am. But I know that she is in a better place…a place where she will feel no pain, her own paradise. I've always wondered why the best of us always suffer the most and die young, but after Caroline left us I think I know. Caroline was too pure to live in such a world, she was too perfect for us."

Fluttershy now started to cry from hearing James pour his feelings out. James, meanwhile, looked down into the crowd to see his aunt and uncle looking at him with appreciative eyes. He then saw his parents with their typical expressions that were soaked in disinterest and criticism.

James didn't care what the fuck they thought at this point.

"And I know that she is not suffering anymore, and that is what's most important."

After he finished, James slowly stepped down to the open casket and looked inside to see Caroline's face one last time.

She never looked more at peace than she did at that moment, as if death had finally brought her bliss after her life of pain and toil. He leaned down and kissed her forehead one last time, some of his tears falling onto her face as he did so.

As he lifted his head back up, he delicately placed the feather onto her chest and smiled.

"A little gift from Fluttershy. I love you Caroline." He whispered before he slowly turned around and walked back to his seat. As he made his way back, he saw his aunt stand up and walk over to him. She had tears in her eyes but a small, thankful smile.

James stopped and looked at her, tears in his own eyes, as she wrapped her arms around him.

"Thank you for everything that you've done for my baby girl, James." She whispered before sniffing a little. James felt some tears hit the top of his head as he looked up to see Fluttershy looking at him through tear-filled eyes. But she also had a smile that was directed at James.

As he looked into her eyes, he couldn't help but smile back at her and feel his spirit lift a little bit.

Fluttershy was only other person, or pony in this case, that he knew that was as kind as Caroline. She had helped him through the saddest time of his life. She was there to comfort him after he heard the news about Caroline's death, she visited Caroline while she was still alive even though she was nervous about meeting her, and her presence encouraged him to get through his speech and properly pay tribute to such a pure soul.

He never loved anyone as much as he loved Fluttershy, and he knew at that moment, he never would.

**Wilmont City Hall**

"I'm tired of playing this game Obscure, I know you don't want to do it but there isn't a choice." Mayor Drocsid was getting frustrated with Brett over not having success in capturing any of the elements. This came shortly after the news that Ryan was not at his house. Even the reminder that chaos was spreading through Wilmont wasn't enough to lessen the Mayor's anger.

"Sir I understand your frustration," Brett said nervously, "but you've got to understand that he's a friend of mine."

"A friend who knows too much." The Mayor snarled before he stood up and walked over to Brett, who looked away to avoid the patronizing glare of his boss. "Besides Mr. Hanson was your friend and you killed him."

"That was different; I only became his friend because I knew that eventually I'd have to kill him." Brett said with a scowl, "I've been friends with Bright ever since we were colts in Canterlot."

"No," the Mayor said as he leaned closer to Brett so he could see his yellow, Draconeqqus eyes, "he was your friend before Celestia put him on this assignment instead of you when you were ten times the magic student he was!"

Brett was frozen, an angry look on his face, before he sighed and managed to mutter a response, "Fine. I'll do it."

"Excellent," the Mayor said with a sadist's smile, "can you find him with your magic?"

Brett nodded, "Yeah, I've got it all under control, sir."

"Brilliant." Mayor Drocsid walked over to the large window and looked into the distance, "The time is almost upon us Obscure, the time of chaos and destruction. And the best part is that the humans will bring it on themselves as the Milite Chaos rises and brings this town to its knees."

"Brilliant, sir." Brett said with a small smile.

And with that, Mayor Drocsid pressed his hands against the glass window and smiled, "I am king."

**Alex- Evening**

As the sun began to slip under the horizon, Alex and Applejack were on their way back home after they went out to grab some ice cream down by the canal. Alex was surprised that Applejack would eat milk products, but she said that ponies often still ate dairy, they just avoided actual meat. Applejack was balancing the cone in-between her hooves as Alex maneuvered the steering wheel with one hand and held his cone with the other.

"Ya need help AJ?" Alex asked.

"Nah ah got it," she said as she slowly brought the ice cream closer to her tongue, which she stuck out to get to her treat. The cone leaned closer, and closer; before it eventually fell onto her face. Alex saw this began to laugh as Applejack pulled the cone away, leaving a large glob of ice cream on her muzzle.

"Ah dang-it all!" she groaned. Alex just kept laughing, so Applejack got a shifty grin on her face before she leaned in and kissed Alex on the cheek, getting the ice-cream on him.

"Ah, ewwwww! AJ come on, I'm driving."

Applejack laughed, "Ah'm just trying to spread the wealth Alex."

"Well spread it with James, he's more into that than I am." Alex groaned as he grabbed a napkin out from the door and wiped the ice-cream off of his cheek before handing Applejack another napkin so she could wipe the ice cream off of her mouth. (And yes I just made a political joke, so sue me)

"Um Alex, ah'm havin' enough trouble holdin' the dang cone, ah can't wipe my mouth off too. Do ya mind if ya help me out?"

"Oh, yeah, of course AJ; hang on let me pull over." Alex slowly pulled the car to the side of the road and put the brake on before he turned to Applejack, "all right, let's get you cleaned up."

Once Alex successfully wiped the vanilla custard off of Applejack's muzzle with the napkin, she decided to start the conversation again.

"So uh Alex, where did ya say ya were from again?"

"Um," Alex said as crumpled put the used napkin into the cup holder, "ah am from Texas."

Applejack giggled, "Ah love that ya do that accent fer me."

"Well, ah know ya like it." Alex said with a grin as he didn't hide his accent from her, "Besides, this is the accent ah had until ah moved up here when ah turned eleven, so ah do speak like ya naturally."

"Golly, so this is yer accent?" Applejack said with a snicker, "why is there such a difference between the two?"

"Different regions of the US." He said, returning to his Upstate New York accent.

"Did ya like Texas?"

"Loved it, ah've always been a Texan at heart, even if I did move to New York." He said with a mixture of his accents. "If you stay here a while you'll see how different Texas and New York are; politically, religiously, and just people overall are different."

"Why did ya move here?"

"My mom and I moved up here with my step-father after the divorce."

"Why did they get a divorce?"

"My mom cheated on my real dad with my step-father, and he found out. They separated and after a few months, they realized it wasn't going to ever work so they went through the divorce."

"Where's yer real father?"

"Dead," Alex said, "after he lost custody of me and my we moved up here, he put a bullet in his head."

What Alex just said was met with a shocked expression from Applejack, "That's…that's terrible, why did he do that?"

"He was upset that he would basically never see me again." Alex sighed, "He fought for at least partial custody of me in the courtroom, but my mom pulled all of the bullshit tricks in the book. How he never paid attention to us, and how he didn't deserve to father a son that he ignored, all lies."

"Why didn't ya say anything?"

"I did AJ, but adults take precedence over eleven year olds so they just pitied me." Alex muttered, gripping the steering wheel tight.

"Yer family sounds mighty dysfunctional."

"Yeah that's another reason why I love you so much AJ," Alex said with a chuckle, "Your family is such a tight unit and you all care about each other so much. I…I envy that."

Applejack smiled and hugged Alex, as she had finished her ice cream, "Ya are part of my family now Alex. Ah don't care if ya ain't a pony."

"Thanks AJ."

They kissed before Alex drove them home. The drive was long and dreary, and Alex knew why. It was getting late, and his father would be home soon, drunk and pissed off as he always was.

Once they were almost home, Alex felt Applejack nodding off on his shoulder. He smiled at having her so close to him for the long ride home to see his drunken step-father most likely beating his mother.

As he pulled into the driveway, he could see his father's car parked in front of him. What's more, he looked through the window of the living room, and saw his father screaming at his mother. He was so loud, in fact, that Alex could hear him even though his step-father was inside the house, and Alex was in his car. Applejack also heard the commotion and slowly opened her eyes, "Ugh what in the hay is goin' on?"

Applejack looked at Alex to see him staring blankly through the large window in the front of the house at his step-father yelling at his mother.

"_Do you understand what it's like to come home to you after a long day and hear that you don't even have the common courtesy to make a decent meal?"_

"_Mark I…"_

"_Shut up!"_

"Alex and Applejack watched in shock as Alex's step-father grabbed Alex's mother and slapped her hard. Then he slapped her again, and again, and again.

"God-damn it." Alex muttered as he quickly un-buckled his seatbelt and opened the car door. He was about to get out when Applejack pressed him back against the seat.

"Ah ain't lettin' ya go in there!"

"I don't have a choice."

"Yes ya do! Alex! Don't do it!"

Alex didn't listen; he pulled out of Applejack's hold and got out of the car before he shut the door in her angry face.

"Alex! Alex don't ya go in there, please!" she screamed as tears began to roll down her face.

Alex pointed at her and sternly mouthed _"stay here"_ before he stormed off to the front door. Applejack anxiously watched as Alex entered his house and started towards his father.

Inside of the house, Alex stormed into the living room to see his mother cowering in the corner as his step-father kept hitting her.

"Hey fuck-face; leave my Mom alone!" Alex shouted as he ran over. He grabbed his step-father by the collar of his shirt, spun him around, and smashed him square in the face with his fist.

Alex jumped on top of him and began to throw as many punches as he could. The only problem was that his step-father was so intoxicated that he didn't feel a fraction of the pain he would have felt if he had been sober. Eventually, he managed to punch Alex and then push him off. He then stood, grabbed Alex by the collar of his shirt, and hoisted him up so he was standing, "Get up you little shit."

Once he was completely up, Alex watched as his step-father reared his right hand back and then brought it right into his nose. He collapsed back to the floor, feeling immense pain radiate through his skull as his step-father got onto his chest. He grabbed Alex by the throat and began to choke him. Alex tried to push the drunkard off of him, but it was no use. He was trapped, and he knew that he could die. Desperate for help, he looked over at his mother to see her staring, immobile and eyes wide. Alex reached his hand out towards her.

"Please….mom…..please…" Alex gurgled out as he felt himself coming closer and closer to passing out. Even in the haze of coming asphyxiation, he could see his mother turn her head away from Alex, like she was content in having her son strangled as long as she didn't get involved.

Outside, Applejack, who was watching from the car, couldn't take anymore of Alex's suffering without doing something about it. She reared back and bucked at the window on the passenger-side door until she heard the sound of shattering glass followed by the feeling of her hind-hooves going through the opening where the window had once been. Applejack climbed out of the window and landed with a thud on the driveway. She picked herself up and galloped at a very fast speed. She didn't even reach this speed when she raced Rainbow Dash. She pushed her way into the house through the still-open door and ran into the living room. She bolted right at Alex's step-father.

Alex was almost unconscious when he suddenly saw an orange bolt slam into his step-father, releasing him from the death hold that he had been in. Alex rolled onto his stomach and began to cough and gag. His eyes were watering and bloodshot, and his body was shaking, and he could feel the blood sliding up his throat and coming out of his mouth in long strands of saliva.

"Mark!" Alex's mother shouted.

Alex slowly turned around to see his step-father sitting on the carpet, surrounded by broken liquor bottles that were on a liquor cabinet that Applejack had ironically slammed him into. He saw his mother, who had ignored his pleas for help earlier, run over immediately to check on the man who had tried to kill him.

He felt anger building for his mother when suddenly he felt someone hug him and kiss his cheek. He turned to see Applejack looking at him, her eyes filled with tears and a sense of relief as she saw that he was okay. "Don' ya ever do anythin' like that again sugarcube."

Alex spat some more blood onto the carpet, "I won't...thank you AJ."

They kissed and Alex felt as Applejack's tears landed on his own cheeks. After they finished kissing, Alex then turned to see his mother kneeling and crying over his step-father's bruised body. He was still alive, of course, just knocked out cold.

Alex had to say, he had at that moment realized that she did not love him, and therefore did not deserve his help anymore. He was done with her. "Come on AJ, let's go."

He slowly got up and both he and Applejack left his mother sobbing over his knocked-out step-father. As Alex got into his car and backed out of the driveway, he looked at his house one more time, knowing that he'd never return.

Alex's mother had wrecked his faith in honesty, and now he was leaving with the pony that had restored his faith in it.

**Pete's House**

"_Okay, what rhymes with sweet?" Pete thought for a second before shaking his head, "Beet? Neat? Treat?...that's it, it's not gonna be a rhyming poem."_

Pete groaned as he continued to type the poem about Pinkie Pie. He really wasn't sure about showing it to her. After all, he was still iffy on the whole idea of having a relationship with a cartoon pony.

After a few more minutes of typing, he finally finished the poem and let out a sigh of releif.

"Done."

"Done with what?"

Pete jumped a foot off of his bed in surprise as Pinkie Pie popped up beside him without warning.

"Geez Petey, it's only me." Pinkie said with a big smile before she looked at the computer that Pete still had on his lap. She pointed her hoof at it. "Hey, what were you doing on your compu-thingy-which-a-ma-call-it?"

"Computer," Pete said as he closed it, "and I wasn't doing anything, just…I was just surfing the web."

"Oh! What are you hiding on there?"

"I'm not hiding anything." Pete said defiantly, though the shakiness in his voice revealed his insecurity.

"Yeah, okay Petey I completely believe you." Pinkie said sarcastically while sporting her typically big, happy smile.

"I'm telling the truth." Pete said. He started to get nervous as she reached out for the computer.

"Come on! Let me look!"

He quickly held the computer out of her reach. "No."

"Pretty please with a cupcake on top?"

"No Pinkie."

Their arguing was put on hold when Pete's father shouted from downstairs.

"Pete! Can you come down here!"

"Yeah coming!"

Without thinking, Pete put his computer down onto his bed and sprinted downstairs. Within three seconds of him leaving the room, Pinkie looked from side to side as a shifty grin grew on her face. She grabbed the computer and opened it. Once she managed to get the screen on, she saw the word document that Pete had up.

"Okay Petey, let's see what you were hiding from me."

She began to read the poem. Asshe did so, her expression slowly fell from sneaky to shock:

_**My Element of Laughter **_

_When I look into your eyes,_

_Your beautiful blue eyes,_

_Crystal and pure,_

_I remember myself._

_My innocent self,_

_My uncorrupted, happy, joyous self,_

_That died when I was so young,_

_In sickness and pain._

_I have never felt so close to anyone,_

_So open to anyone, _

_As I do to you Pinkie._

_You bring out the best in me,_

_Just by being you._

_No human girl could ever compare,_

_Your nature so sweet,_

_So optimistic,_

_I love you._

_I understand it's strange,_

_But it doesn't matter._

_I love you Pinkie,_

_And I always will._

After she finished reading the poem, Pinkie's expression was pure shock. She knew that Pete liked her, but she never thought he liked her that much.

Meanwhile, Pete just finished helping his mother carry some potted plants from outside, under the porch, into the garage. As he made his way back up the stairs, he cracked his neck to get some of the stiffness out of it from the plant moving.

Once he got into his room, he shut his door and looked up to see Pinkie Pie looking at him from behind the computer. Once the scene in front of him registered, Pete realized that Pinkie had just read his poem, and he suddenly became frightened.

"Oh no." Pete began to tremble, "Pinkie…did…did you just read…."

He was cut off as Pinkie flew off of the bed at Pete and tackled him to the floor with a kiss. At first, Pete's eyes initially widened in fright, but then he slowly closed them and began to kiss back. Pete never felt as relaxed as he did at that moment. She didn't judge him or get mad at him for speaking his mind as so many other people had in the past. No, instead she accepted him and respected him; she loved him.

Slowly they broke the kiss and Pinkie giggled, "You know that you could have just told me."

"Yeah, he-he, now I do."

Pinkie smiled and kissed Pete on the cheek before backing off, "Why are you so timid?" Pete was about to protest when Pinkie gave him a glare, "You Pinkie promised that you'd tell me, remember?"

He knew that to go against a Pinkie promise would only cause problems for him, so he caved.

"You really want to know, don't you?"

Pinkie gave a big grin and nodded excitedly. "Yep!"

"Okay fine," Pete nodded and let out a sigh, "when I was younger I was the most talkative person in school. I would always say what came to my mind, even if it wasn't particularly funny or made sense."

"What's the big deal about that? I say whatever pops into my mind all of the time! Sometimes I'm funny, sometimes I fall flat on my face!" With that, Pinkie fell down onto her face to illustrate her point. She then looked upat Pete with a big grin.

"That's the thing, Pinkie. In our world, if you say something stupid or tell a joke that they don't understand because you're not good with your timing, you begin to get poked fun at and berated. Eventually, you become afraid to say anything because of what others might think or say."

Pinkie put her hoof onto Pete's shoulder to reassure him, "Petey, you shouldn't let those meanies make you feel bad just because you say what comes to your mind. Is that why you're so quiet?"

Pete looked at her, tears started to form in his eyes as he shook his head, "No, that's one reason but...that's not all."

"Then what else?"

Pete sighed, "I always thought that maybe if I watched what I said, then I'd be fine. So I started to cut back on my jokes and, eventually, what I was talking about in general. But when I did talk they'd find something wrong with it and say that I made no sense, or they'd talk and shout over me by saying "nobody cares", "shut up", and other arrogant things. For a year I hardly said a word to anyone except my closest friends. But I wasn't complexly quiet be any means, I was just more self-doubting about what I was going to say. And then it happened."

Pinkie suddenly looked at Pete with worry, "What happened?"

"When I was twelve I was diagnosed with a disease called Ulcerative colitis, which is the inflammation of the colon. I had to run to the bathroom almost twenty times a day, I couldn't eat a lot without feeling like I would throw up. I was a prisoner in my own body, and soon I...I just didn't talk. I tried to still hang out with kids, but because of howquiet I was, they became more and more distant."

"What do you mean more distant?" Pinkie asked, "Wouldn't they be closer to you? I mean, if a pony gets sick…."

"Let me guess, their friends are right there beside them to help them through the ordeal?" Pete asked and Pinkie nodded, this time much more slowly. Pete shook his head, "That's not how it is here. People don't try to understand their friends when they get sick. As I said, I was somewhat quiet before I got the disease, but after I got sick, I hardly said a word to anyone. The disease made me so depressed and nervous all of the time about how much I ate, where the bathrooms were, that I just didn't talk. Instead of asking me what was wrong, my friends forgot all about me. And it's like they didn't know I was sick, I did tell them that, and they did see me run to the bathroom ever hour. Hell, some were on my soccer team and saw me when I had to run off of the field to use the port-a-potty during a game."

"Once time I got really sick, and I spent a week in the hospital. Not one person, not one of my "friends" or "family" came up to visit me. It was just me and my parents. My friends knew that I was in the hospital to because my mom told their parents about it, but it didn't make one iota of a difference, and I didn't understand. When I got back to school, people began to avoid me."

"Apparently there was a rumor going around that I had cancer." Pete began to chuckle darkly, "They thought I had cancer and they still didn't see me in the hospital or ask how I was doing. No one did anything for me except for my parents, no one. There are always specials on the news where friends shave their heads or do special things for their cancer-ridden friends, but because I either talked nonsense or didn't talk at all, people didn't give a shit."

"Pete..."

"Oh that's not all," Pete said with a sad smile, "My friends talked about how they all heard that I had cancer, I fucking hate the person that spread that lie, it's such a bad-omen. One of them asked if they should go up to me and see how I was feeling, but then the rest said no. They said I was a quiet weirdo before I got sick, and there were apparently rumors that spread because of my quietness, and how I was a freak because I was withdrawn. They said I didn't talk to them enough to be considered a friend; they didn't understand my nervousness about talking and my sadness about how sick I was.

Tears began to roll down Pete's cheeks before he continued, "So I went from talking too much, to thinking too much about what other people think I'm the "weird, quiet, sick kid". Because of how sad my illness had made me and the nervousness those kids made me feel to say the wrong thing, they saw me as a freak and eventually rumors spread and….that's when the bullying began. What I learned from my time at school is that we live in a society where you're damned if you do and damned if you don't."

At this moment, Pinkie threw her forelegs around Pete's neck and cried into him.

"I'm….so….sorry….!" she began to bawl, covering the floor with almost a gallon of water.

Pete began to slowly rub her back, "I-it okay Pinkie, it happened years ago."

"It's so sad, though." She whimpered. "And that's what caused you to be so shy?"

Pete chuckled, "Well it doesn't matter because I have you now."

Pinkie's crying slowed and she gave Pete a warm smile, "Yeah…yeah you do. I'm here for you Pete."

"I know you are," Pete said with a smile, "you were there for me every Saturday when I had nothing to do, no friends to hang out with, and now you're here with me in my life. And I'm grateful for it."

Pinkie Pie chuckled a little and they both kissed.

**Motel- Night**

Alex had checked into a motel with Applejack after leaving his house. Once in the room, Alex went to go clean off his facial wounds in the bathroom. Applejack wanted to help him, but he didn't let her, as he felt like she did enough for him. He turned the television on for her and she lay in the bed watching some news channel that was still covering the Leigh Heights burning,

Alex washed the blood off of his face and gargled with some mouthwash in order to dis-infect his throat. He wasn't a doctor, so he wasn't sure if a throat that bled could become infected very easily, but he decided not to take any chances. As he gargled, he suddenly had to spit it out as the alcohol in the mouthwash burned his throat. His throat hurt like hell and he groaned.

"Fuck me." He said in a very raspy voice.

"Alex are ya okay?"

"Ah'm fine AJ." Alex said.

"Still with the accent, ah like it." Applejack said with a chuckle.

Alex was confused at what she said until he realized she meant his southern accent. He was somewhat taken aback by this though because he didn't even try to speak with it that time, it was like he just said it naturally. Was it from hanging out with her so much?

After cleaning his face a bit more, he made his way back to the bed and got under the covers. Applejack slipped in as well. Alex turned the television off, followed by the lights, and then moved closer to Applejack so they could be in an embrace as they slept.

"Good night sugarcube." Applejack said through a yawn.

"Good night AJ, I love you."

"Ah love ya too."

"Oh and AJ."

"Ya?"

"Thank you again."

At that, both of them kissed passionately in the dark before they both fell asleep, their lips still pressed together and their bodies giving each other warmth.

**Church- Late Night (11:00)**

The church was mostly empty as the majority of attendees went earlier in the day. But there were a few late-night worshippers. One such worshipper was Mr. Courtie who, while not a Christian, as he obviously worshipped Princess Celestia, he always went to church for his own reasons, namely how good he felt when he was there.

As he leaned forward to watch the sermon that the priest was giving, he didn't notice as a dark figure slipped into the same pew as him and sat right beside him.

He then heard a familiar voice speak to him, "You know this isn't a place for Equestrians."

Mr. Courtie sighed and without looking to his left, knew that Brett, or Obscure Darkness, had taken the seat beside him.

"Maybe to you, but I love Church."

"Why? You're more loyal to Celestia than I am, and even I think it's blasphemous."

"It's "Princess" Celestia, and it isn't," Mr. Courtie said without turning, "I don't come here for the preaching, I come here for the sense of community."

Brett looked around the almost empty church and chuckled, "Doesn't seem like a community to me."

"The number of people doesn't make the community what it is," Mr. Courtie sighed, "the bond between them does. And church is one of the only places where people can connect on this chaotic planet."

"You know it's awfully rude to not look me in the eyes when you're talking to me." Brett said with a smirk.

"You haven't earned my respect." Mr. Courtie growled, "so you don't get the courtesy of eye-contact."

"Bright, when did we become so different?"

"When the Princess chose me to look after the Element of Magic here instead of you? And you joined Discord just to spite us."

Brett pretends to think for a second before nodding, "Yeah, that seems about right."

"You succumbed to envy, Obscure, and you let it take such a hold on you that there was no going back."

"Damn right," Brett spat before smiling and leaning on the pew in front of him so he could see some of the whites in Mr. Courtie's eyes. "I assume that you know why I'm here, don't you?"

Mr. Courtie shook his head. "I won't tell you."

"You don't need to Bright," Brett chuckled as he sat his back against the pew, "I have my own ways of figuring it out, so it's up to you if you want it to be painless, or if you want it to be excruciating?"

"Painless would be me telling you right now, right?" Mr. Courtie asked as he slowly turned to stare down Brett.

Brett smiled, "Hey, from your lips to Celestia's ears."

"It's Princess Celestia; you don't have the right to call her "Celestia" after everything that you've done."

Brett's smile fell and he now had a completely serious look on his face, "I guess you want to do this the hard way then. It's a shame, I really to have a great deal of respect for you."

"Respect means nothing if you don't honor it." Mr. Courtie said as he started to slowly standup and make his way out of the row, "I have to go."

"You know I will get the information from you, right?" Brett said as his smile grew back, "It doesn't matter how defiant you are, and it doesn't matter if you never cave in. I'll get it."

Mr. Courtie's face was somber and full of fear as he turned and headed out of the church. Brett watched until he was almost at the back before he turned to face the priest, who still was giving the sermon.

Mr. Courtie passed by one of the ushers that was in the back and exited through the large, oak doors that were virtually soundproof. Once he was outside in the cool crisp night air, he let out a sigh before he walked to the top of the stairs that led down to the sidewalk.

He was so focused on thinking about Brett that he didn't notice three shadowy figures come up behind him. Without warning, Mr. Courtie felt himself get shoved down the flight of stairs. There were not a whole lot of steps, but it was enough to have his nose bloodied and his wrist broken. He was groggy and, before he could get his bearings, he felt someone kick him, and another person stomp on his abdomen and another person kick his head.

Inside of the church, Brett slowly stood up and made his way out, lighting a cigarette as he approached the usher, who looked at him with anger.

"Excuse me, sir. You can't smoke in here."

"Go fuck yourself." Brett muttered as he walked by, blowing a plume of smoke into the air. He exited the church to see Mr. Courtie lying on the ground as the three figures, Lawrence, Sean and Lance, were pounding him.

Brett smiled, knowing that having three people gang up on him would prevent him from using his magic to win. Behind him, Brett heard the chorus of the church break out into "Glory to God in the Highest" as he slowly descended the stairs. Once he neared the bottom; he flicked the cigarette and let his hand turn into a familiar black hoof with the similarly colored aura that surrounded it.

He slowly made his way to Mr. Courtie as Lawrence and Lance held him up. His face was swollen and bloody, his arm broken and his abdomen had an almost black and blue hue to it from the constant stomps and kicks.

Brett knelt down and held up hoof up, "I'm sorry to do this Bright. I waited as long as I could because I really didn't want to kill you. But Discord is desperate to find those boys. It's nothing personal, it's business." And with that, Brett pressed his hoof to Mr. Courtie's forehead and slowly began to suck out his memories, as well as drain his life-force. Mr. Courtie's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he went limp. Lawrence and Lance released him and his body fell back onto the sidewalk while Brett stood up, his eyes closed, as his mind absorbed all of the information that Mr. Courtie had in his own.

"Sir?" Lance asked, taking a step towards Brett, "Sir do you know who they are?"

Brett slowly opened his eyes and gave a sadistic smile, "Lawrence, you might want to take note. I've got a list of names and addresses for you and your army."

**Hope you enjoyed another extremely long Chapter.**

**I have a lot of papers this week so it may be a while before I update again.**

**Pete's story is heavily based on my own experiences, including the disease. The kids I knew, for the most part, weren't as jerky as the ones in this story but my disease still resulted in my alienation. Also, there was a rumor that I had cancer and I only found out about it when my mom talked to another student's mother. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Parent Issues**

**Yes, it's been about a week since I've posted last. Finals will do that to you (especially a 200-level Spanish test and Organic Chesmisty). anyway, now that I am done with classes, I plan on doing a lot of writing over the summer, both starting some screenplays, as well as working on this bad boy here.**

**Also, this chapter will have no Ryan or Rainbow Dash in it, just a heads up. Don't worry, the next chapter will have a lot of her, and Ryan (if you like him too, I don't want to promote one of my OCs over another).**

**As always, I hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think.**

**And, as usual, I own nothing except my OC characters.**

**Carl's Dream**

"Carl! Carl can you hear me?"

Carl groaned and slowly started to open his eyes only to be met by a very bright, white light that immediately caused his eyes to throb in pain. He quickly shielded the light from his line of vision so he open them fully without causing him too much more pain. Once he started to re-gain his visibility, he began to make out a purple blur directly in front of him. He could tell that the blur was the one calling to him.

"Carl, come on get up, the Princess needs to talk to us, she says it's urgent!"

Once he heard that, Carl's eyes shot open to verify that the purple blur was indeed Twilight, who had a very anxious look on her face. Carl rubbed the last bit of sleep from his eyes and looked around to see that they were back in the Princess' castle as they had been a few nights before. Once he recognized his surroundings, he let out a groan.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me, we're dreaming again aren't we?"

Twilight nodded, "Yes. Princess Celestia brought us here."

Carl slapped his hand over his eyes and rubbed it down his face as if to fully display his irritation.

"This better be as urgent as she says."

"Come on." Twilight said. She extended her hoof to help Carl up. He grabbed it and pushed himself off of the ground as Twilight simultaneously pulled him until he was up and standing. Carl and Twilight then began to walk down the long corridor towards a door that led to the large room where the Princess' throne was. As they walked together, Carl couldn't help but look around at the stained-glass windows and magnificent architecture that was incredibly impressive. Even though he did see it the last time he was brought to this castle, he didn't really have a chance to fully appreciate it. For being from a cartoon it was amazing. Then again, he did think Twilight was beautiful and she was an animated pony, so he decided not to contemplate any further how amazing animated things could look in comparison to real things.

Once they entered the room, they saw that the large, almost gaudy throne before them was empty. No princess sitting in it. In fact, the Princess wasn't anywhere to be seen. Carl looked from one end of the room to the other for any sign of her, but she was anywhere that Carl could see. He looked down at Twilight.

"Um Twi, where's the Princess?"

"She said she'll be back in a minute." Twilight responded without taking her eyes off of the empty throne.

"Wait, how long were you here talking with the Princess before I woke up?"

"Long enough to know that she has bad news," she muttered. "though I'm not exactly sure what it is. She wanted to wait until you woke up so she could tell us together."

"Great, how bad could the news be where she needed to perform another Dom Cobb on me?"

"Discord knows who you are." said a familiar, powerful female voice that had a sound of absolute authority.

Princess Celestia appeared from another part of the castle the throne and started to walk towards the two, her eyes had a mix of fear and sadness. Carl would have bowed, but his heart stopped in fear after hearing those words come out of the Princess' mouth.

"Is that enough of a reason for you?" she asked, but she didn't seem irritated, just nervous.

"H-how does he know?" Carl asked, his voice shaking as if to reflect his fear.

Princess Celestia sighed, "He had one of his assistants extract information about your identities from your protector...and then killed him."

"My protector?"

Princess Celestia looked down at Twilight with a sorrowful look that made Twilight become even more nervous. The Princess sighed and said, "Yes...Bright Illusion is dead."

Twilight's eyes filled with a horror and sadness. She shook her head without blinking. "No, no...not my Uncle."

The Princess sympathetically closed her eyes and nodded, "I'm sorry Twilight."

That was all Twilight could take before she lay down on the marble floor and started to cry. Carl would have gotten down onto his knee and tried to comfort her, but he was in too much shock from the idea that Bright Illusion, or Mr. Courtie has he had called him for so many years, was murdered.

Carl swallowed a "How...how did it..."

"Obscure Darkness took his memory," the Princess replied, "and in order to extract someone's entire memory, their life force must be drained. It's a very powerful spell and besides Luna and I, only the most gifted of unicorns have the power to perform it. Unfortunately, Obscure is one of those unicorns."

Carl began to feel himself shake when he snapped himself out of it long enough to get down onto his knee to comfort Twilight, who was still lying on the ground, crying. Carl hugged her and leaned into her ear and began to try to calm her down by whispering "I'm sorry, Twilight, but it'll be okay. Everything will be okay Twi. I'm here for you."

Twilight looked up at Carl through her tears before she gave him an appreciative nuzzle. Carl looked back up at the Princess, who was still standing in front of them with remorse.

"What do we do?" Carl asked as he continued to rub Twilight's back to console her.

"First you need to warn the others," Princess Celestia muttered, "tell them to leave their homes and get to an undisclosed location where they cannot find them."

Carl nodded as he soothingly continued to stroke Twilight's mane and back. She had been there to listen to his sorrows about his father, and she had helped him get over his lack of faith in love. Now it was his turn to do the same for her.

"Carl you and Twilight must wake up now and evacuate before they come for you, there isn't much time." the Princess said. Carl nodded and finally bowed. "Thank you Princess Celestia."

"Carl you don't need to be so formal around me."

Carl nodded and pulled the now quietly crying Twilight closer to him before the Princess spoke up again.

"Oh and Carl," She said before she closed her eyes. Her horn glowed and a small, green box levitated to Carl from behind her. Princess Celestia opened her eyes to look at Carl as the box continued to levitate in front of him. Carl slowly reached out and grabbed the box, As he pulled it closer to his eye-level to examine it, he could see three of the four sides of the box had the images of each species of pony. One had a unicorn with a horn that was glowing, one was a Pegasus in mid-flight above the clouds, and the last image was of an earth pony running. The fourth side of the box that was not the top of the bottom, in two rows of three, had the images of six the cutie marks that the mane six had. The strange thing was that all of the marks were currently emitting a small glow except for one, and that one was the diamond. Rarity's cutie mark. Even more astonishing was how much more Rainbow Dash's cutie mark glowed in comparison to the others. Carl didn't really understand any of it so he slowly looked back up at the princess.

"What's this?"

"This small chest contains a prophecy that you and the others must read, but it will only open when all of the elements are in perfect harmony, hence the glowing. And based on what the box is showing, the Elements of Generosity aren't in harmony with each other."

Carl nodded, remembering Louis and how he had still not come back to help.

"Yeah, I...I know we need to convince him to come back."

Princess Celestia nodded, "Do so quickly Carl, because we're running low on time."

Carl nodded and the Princess' horn began to glow again and she muttered, "Good luck you two."

Slowly the image of the Princess and the castle began to disappear into a white abyss until Carl was stuck in a white nothingness with only Twilight by his side still.

It was strange, the fact that Twilight was still visible in his arms even though the rest of the dream had disappeared into nothingness. Twilight looked up at Carl and gave him a small, thankful smile.

That's when he woke up.

Carl's House

Carl slowly opened his eyes to see Twilight still in his arms, though he realized that he was now in reality. She looked up at him with her still tear-streaked eyes that drenched the pillow-case that her head was on. Carl knew that Twilight and Bright Illusion really haven't seen each other in a while, but he assumed that he still meant a lot to her. After all, they were still family, no matter how far the distance was between them.

"Twi are you okay?"

Twilight wiped some tears off of her cheek and nodded, "Yes...I'm just...I know I haven't seen him in a long time but, Uncle Bright still meant so much to me."

Carl nodded, "I understand."

He leaned in and kissed the top of her head, careful to avoid her horn, and felt her press into him again and rubbed her face into his shirt. As they broke off she looked up at Carl and gave him the slightest smile.

Carl smiled back before he realized that he was holding something in his right hand. He looked down to see the tiny, green chest from the dream. Twilight looked down at it too and saw the six cutie marks glowing. Well, except for Rarity's that is.

"Do you know where Louis lives?" Twilight asked as she looked back up at Carl.

Carl shook his head, "No, but I can get his number off of Facebook, right now we need to get the warning out to him and the others." he said.

Twilight nodded. Suddenly Carl froze when he had the sudden realization that he was going to have to reveal Twilight, Spike and Rarity to his mother.

"Oh boy, that should be fun." Carl thought before he spoke.

"I'll call the others." Carl said, "except Ryan, he's in a hotel so he should be okay."

Twilight nodded and got out of bed before turning to Carl, "Are you going to show me to your mother then?"

Carl shrugged, "Do I really have a choice?"

With that, both of them left the room. Carl pocketed the box, which fit even though he now had a large bulge in his pocket. It looked like he was carrying his wallet, car keys, and his phone all in the same pocket. He nodded in confidence that he had everything under control and knew what he was doing.

What he didn't realize was that Alex was the only safe one at the moment as he was at a hotel that not even Carl knew about, and therefore Mr. Courtie didn't know about when he died. But Carl forgot one detail, much more vital than the one regarding Alex.

Carl forgot that he told Mr. Courtie which hotel Ryan was staying at.

Louis' House

Louis slipped his sleeveless work-out shirt and red shorts on. He put his earphones in and clipped his iPod to his waistband, ready to burn himself out on his daily three-mile run. He hoped that running would help him feel less guilty about badly he treated Rarity and the others two nights before, but he wasn't counting on it.

Since he left Carl's house his conscience and his desires were going through a civil war in his mind. His conscience was scolding him for abandoning his duty, while his selfish side kept finding ways to push his conscience into the background through excuses. But as time went on, his desire-loving side was having a much harder time satisfying the arguments that his conscience put forward.

The main reason that his conscience was bothering him however was because of how God awful he felt after leaving Rarity sobbing on Carl's lawn. Not only was it a cruel thing to do to anyone, or anypony, but it was especially cruel for him to do to his favorite character on the show.

He never would tell anyone that he liked My Little Pony, but he certainly would NEVER admit that his favorite character was Rarity, as she was the most "girly-girly" one.

To this day he wasn't exactly sure why Rarity was his favorite character, but he felt like he had a connection to her as soon as he started watching the series. She had the type of personality he wanted out of a girlfriend. A girl that isn't afraid to act a little girly, but at the same time is smart, cunning, kind, generous...God too many good qualities for him to keep track of. Overall, he knew that she would never abandon her friends for anything, and that's what killed him. Rarity risked losing her popularity in Canterlot by admitting that the other five were her friends because she cared about her friends more than her wants and her desires, and now Louis realized that he wasn't living up to her character. More than anything, this feeling that he had let Rarity down by being such a prick was what made him feel the most depressed.

Louis went outside and began to jog as music blared into his ears. The afternoon sun shone high in the sky, beating heat down onto his' back as thoughts of Rarity continued to fill his mind.

"It's such a nice day," he thought, "Damn, I wish I didn't feel so guilty, but poor Rarity. Maybe I should at least go see her to apologize."

There was not many times in his life when he could just have some time to think to himself, so when he ran, he savored every second of it.

After a few minutes, he finally managed to push through the "wall" and was now enjoying his nice, easy jog, especially after he mentally decided to stop by Carl's to see Rarity. Just to see her, not to join them in their cause or fight, but he wanted to apologize. After all, any brony that caused a pony, especially one of the mane six, to cry would feel as if they just committed mass genocide.

Louis turned a corner and continued to run for another fifteen minutes, his shirt beginning to feel heavier as more and more sweat poured into it. It was around this time when he looked at his reflection in a window as he passed by a house, letting his narcissism prevail for a brief moment. Just before his image disappeared at the end of the window, however, the image a black sedan slowly following caught his attention.

His music had been too loud for him to notice the car was only a few feet behind him.

He suddenly got a little nervous, but he kept running as if he didn't notice anything. He ran by a few other houses, each time making sure to look at the windows to see if the car as still following him. Each and every time he saw his image, he saw the car not too far behind it.

He looked back forward, thinking about what he was going to do. He then saw a corner up ahead that he normally turned down. It was familiar territory, so he knew that he could find his way back home. He decided to go for it.

He casually jogged as he turned down the road, momentarily out of sight of the two people who were in the car. Once the car turned the corner, they saw Louis sprinting away; his distance already widened to at least twenty yards. The car sped up after him as they saw Louis turn and look at them with fear in his eyes.

Louis then quickly turned into a yard and ran towards the backyard. He stopped his music and heard the car screech to a halt behind him followed by two doors opening. He heard the two men order him to stop running. Louis didn't listen; he kept sprinting towards the backyard of the house that he was running towards.

That's when he heard a gun-shot ring, followed some bark off of tree nearby to get shot off in a small cloud of an almost saw-dust like material. He jumped to the ground in cover. He looked up at the tree and saw the area that the bullet had hit, "Holy God they're trying to kill me."

He quickly got back up and ran behind the house and, thanks to his athleticism, easily hopped the fence. He continued to run from back-yard to back-yard, the shouts and gunshots sounding further and further away, until he managed to find his way back onto the main street. He looked behind himself to see that the men were no longer in sight since he lost them in the backyards. He sprinted for about ten minutes until he reached his house. Once he got there, ran into his house and shut the door. He collapsed onto the floor, breathing heavily and almost gagging from how dry his throat got.

He wasn't used to running like that, not even for soccer, and he ran A LOT for that sport.

He slowly picked himself back up and looked at his reflection in the mirror. His dark face had looked slightly less dark, almost pale, and he was drenched in sweat. He looked like he was exhausted and about to pass out, but he couldn't. Not when he was in danger.

"They aren't going to stop, it doesn't matter what I do, they're not gonna stop." he thought to himself.

Ironically, though, it had taken this moment of danger for his mind to finally declare a winner in the great "right versus wrong" civil war. He then knew what he had to do. He grabbed his car keys, left the house and went out to his car.

"That punk better have an explanation for this shit." He grumbled as he got into his sedan and sped off to Carl's house.

Carl's House

Lauren was stunned. She had just finished getting breakfast ready when Carl told her that he needed to show her something shocking and important. When she agreed, she thought it would be a new talent or something simple. She wasn't exactly sure where "two cartoon ponies and one cartoon dragon" came up on the list of possibilities in her mind, but she was sure that it was near the bottom of it.

Yet, here she was sitting at the dining room table with Carl, Anna, Lisa, and the three cartoon characters.

"Carl..." Lauren said, "what...what's...how...?"

"I told you Mom, this is Twilight Sparkle, Rarity and Spike, and yes they are three characters from a cartoon that I occasionally watch."

"If occasionally is code for every day." Lisa muttered under her breath, which Carl ignored before he continued.

"They're here because Wilmont is going to fall to chaos and we need their help in order to stop it."

Lauren shook her head in disbelief as she rubbed her eyes with her thumb and forefinger. "This is impossible. I'm...I'm dreaming, I have to be dreaming."

"Mom you aren't dreaming." Lisa confirmed, "Carl is telling you the truth. Trust me, if he wasn't I'd tell you."

"I know, I just...they're CARTOONS! And they're HERE, what part of that is logical."

Twilight decided to pipe up. "Look, Carl's Mom, if I may..." Lauren, with uncertainty still in her face, nodded and Twilight continued. "...I understand how overwhelming this must be for you. And I understand the prospect of talking ponies in your presence un-nerves you a bit, am I right?"

Lauren let out a sigh and nodded.

Twilight gave her a small, reassuring smile before she continued, "But we are real, and we need you to listen to us because we're running out of time."

She still seemed to be a little distrusting of the little pony that was talking to her, that is until Twilight spoke up again. "Also, in my opinion, you really did a great job raising your kids."

Lauren's face suddenly softened, "You...you do?" she said in a way that seemed to hint that she was uncertain that the purple mare was telling her the truth."

Twilight nodded, "Absolutely."

"I also agree with Twilight on that Mrs..." Rarity said in a way that asked what she should call Lauren.

"Ms. Lewis." Lauren said.

Rarity stopped and chuckled a bit, "Ms. Lewis. I agree that you've done a simply marvelous job as a mother."

Lauren started to blush from the compliments, as she never received any of them before. "T-thank you girls." She looked up at them and gave them a small smile. Rarity and Twilight smiled back and nodded.

Lauren then turned her attention to Carl, "So we need to leave?"

"Yes." Carl said flatly, "and we need to now."

"Is someone coming for us?" she asked and Carl nodded.

"Yes, and if we stay we'll be sitting ducks."

Lauren nodded in understanding before she stood up and walked over to the fridge, "Okay everyone grab what you need and meet out at the car."

Carl nodded and everyone got up. Carl grabbed his cell phone and began to dial James' number as Lisa, Spike and Anna ran upstairs to get stuff from their rooms. Rarity went to help Lauren get her things together, and Twilight stayed with Carl.

"Carl what are you doing?"

"Calling James." he muttered, but just before he could press "call" he heard the doorbell ring. Carl and Twilight's hearts both seemed to freeze in fear at the noise, positive that Discord's henchmen were there. Carl and slowly began to approach the door while Twilight called after him.

"Carl! What are you doing, don't answer it."

Carl stopped and turned to her, "Just be ready to use your magic Twi."

Twilight nodded and stood in a position that made it seem like she was bracing herself from an attack. She pointed her horn at the door and had determination in her eyes. She gave Carl a small nod as if to tell him to answer the door. Carl slowly walked over to the door and stopped right in front of it. He leaned forward and peeked through the tiny peep hole that was on the door to see none other than Louis standing right outside, his shirt still drenched in sweat and his eyes wide in fear.

"Louis?"

Twilight let her guard down and looked up with a confused expression, "What? Carl, did you say that it's Louis?"

Carl nodded and opened the door, only to be pushed back onto the ground right in front of Twilight as Louis bolted inside and shut the door, locked it and looked out of the peep-hole to see if anyone had followed him.

"Louis, what are you doing here?"

"Those bastards found out where I live." he muttered as he turned away from the door and looked at Carl, "they tried to shoot me today when I was on my run."

Carl was speechless at this for a few seconds as Louis looked around, observing his surroundings, before he looked back at Carl, "Where's Rarity?"

"Upstairs, why?"

"If I'm in danger regardless of what I do, I'm not gonna sit around and let those bastards find me. I'm gonna help you out." and with that, Louis ran up the stairs, leaving a somewhat happier Twilight and Carl behind.

Carl sighed and finally got his phone out and pressed "talk" and held it up to his ear, waiting for James to pick up.

James' House

"I'm just saying you seemed to stutter a bit while you were speaking." James' mom scolded as James just stared down at his bowl of cereal, gripping the spoon he held tightly to relieve some of the stress he felt from his mother's criticisms. Ever since Fluttershy came into his life he had learned to somewhat ignore his parents' blatant attempts to put him down and let it go in one ear and out of the other.

But that didn't mean he still wasn't sick of it.

Eventually the phone rang and James mentally praised God, even if he wasn't entirely sure of his existence, for its distracting effect on his mother. She walked over and answered the phone, "Hello?"

There was a brief pause before she turned to James and held the phone out to him, "It's Carl."

Without hesitation, James grabbed the phone and ran up the stairs with it.

"I'd like to thank you for saving me from the wicked witch." James muttered at a low volume into the phone. As he walked by his brother's room, he could see some of his friends standing around as Patrick was holding a familiar little bag with some green plant in it.

"James listen to me this is urgent."

James ignored his brother and continued to his room, "What are you talking about Carl?"

James made his way back into his room and went over to his bed, while Fluttershy was laying down, asleep under the covers.

"Discord knows our identities, he knows where we live. Listen, you, Fluttershy and your family need to get out of there and meet us at a hotel."

"W-what!" James asked, now frightened. Fluttershy's eyes began to open as she looked over at James. She let out a small yawn that made James give a quick, mental D'awwwwww.

"James what's going on...if you don't mind me asking?" Fluttershy asked as she finished her yawn.

"Hang on Fluttershy," James said while he covered the mouthpiece of the phone before he removed his hand and addressed Carl, "Carl so what are you saying, that I reveal Fluttershy to my parents?"

"You don't have a choice."

James then heard an "eep" followed by Fluttershy jumping up and diving under the covers, shivering in fear.

"Y-your...p-parents?" she whispered from her hiding spot.

"Carl man she's petrified. I can't just reveal her to them." James said with desperation in his voice, but this was too urgent of a situation for Carl to cave just like that.

"James, listen. If you don't show Fluttershy to your parents they won't believe you and you'll all be fucked, including Fluttershy. You don't have time, just man up and tell them!"

"All right!" James shouted, "All right, Jesus Christ."

James died a little inside when he heard Fluttershy's shaking increase and another couple eeps come out from under the covers where she was still hiding. James couldn't handle her fear and felt worse at that moment than he had at any point in his life.

"Just let me talk to Fluttershy and I'll meet you at the hotel."

"Great, okay we're meeting at the hotel off of 4-90."

"Yeah I've...I've got it thanks." with that, James hung up and put the phone down onto his mattress before he turned to Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy come on it won't be that bad."

That was when he heard her crying. His heart sunk and he reached out to slowly pull the blanket off of her. Once the sheets fell off of her face, he saw her eyes closed and tears running down her cheeks. She was shaking like she had just seen a ghost, or a dragon in her case.

"No...James please...I..." James reached out and put his hand on her head and began to stroke her hair to calm her down.

"It'll be okay Fluttershy." James said as soothingly as possible, "when I show you to them I'll be right there, and everything will be fine."

Fluttershy slowly began to open her eyes to look into James'. "You...you will?"

"Of course," James said with a chuckle, "you've been there for me whenever I needed you. So it's the least I could do."

Fluttershy gave James a small smile, "Wow, James I...nopony's ever said anything that nice to me before."

"Shame too," James said, "you're by far the kindest pony or person that I've ever met."

Fluttershy blushed at the compliment and looked away before she whispered something that James couldn't quite make out.

"I'm sorry what was that?" James asked.

Fluttershy whispered something else. James was suddenly having flashbacks to how she acted when she first met Twilight, as well as how she acted when she first read James' eulogy.

"Fluttershy I...can you speak up a little I want to know what you're saying."

Fluttershy looked up sat James, their eyes meeting. "I said you're...you're also the kindest person I've met. Pony or human."

They continued to look at each other with for a few more seconds before they began to lean towards each other, inch my inch their faces got closer and closer to each other until their lips met and they began to kiss.

Both of them suddenly felt their hearts explode at the same time, as if the kiss was a detonation device. James felt all of his worries wash away. His worries about his parents, his worries about his ability to be kind. All of those petty things became insignificant to the love that he felt for Fluttershy.

And she felt the same way for James. She was obviously a timid mare, hell using the word "timid" is an understatement, but she realized that she was in love with James. She felt like she could be herself around him and, while her friends understood her nature, a mare as quiet as her never really drew the attention of any stallions. James was the first boy that she was so open to, the first person she ever truly could say that she loved.

They continued their kiss for few more seconds until they slowly separated, still looking into each other's eyes with the pure love that they had for one another.

They were so entranced in each other that neither of them noticed the teenage boy standing in the doorway with his mouth agape until James saw the teen's shadow over Fluttershy. He watched Fluttershy's eyes suddenly widen while she looked behind James, and he could tell based on the look Fluttershy gave that something terrible was behind them.

Slowly, he turned around until he could see what she was staring at.

There, in the doorway with his eyes wide open, his jaw completely hanging, and his body frozen in shock, was Patrick, who had seen the two kiss.

James heart froze, "Patrick I..."

Patrick bolted away, screaming for his and James' parents. Fluttershy turned red and threw the covers over her head in shame. James closed his eyes and gritted his teeth.

"Shit."

Carl's House

After Carl had finished calling James, Alex and Pete, he and Twilight both "kept watch" at the window as everyone else got ready to leave. Rarity had not accepted Louis' apology as he followed her, begging for forgiveness. Unfortunately, Rarity really wasn't one to accept apologies off a whim, so she just kept ignoring Louis or flat-out scolding him, as she continued to help Anna pack while Spike was helping Lisa in her room.

Lauren was in her room packing some clothes and toiletries, only what was necessary, before she made her way downstairs.

"Carl where are we going again?"

"Remember the hotel that we went to for Uncle Troy's wedding?"

Lauren thought for a second and nodded, "Oh yeah. Didn't they have a roach problem?"

"That was four years ago mom," Carl muttered, "and I think roaches are the least of our problems right now."

Lauren nodded and walked off. Carl turned to Twilight who said with a smile, while not averting her eyes off of the front lawn, "You know I still wouldn't tell Rarity about the roach problem."

"Don't worry, I know better than to tell her." Carl said with a chuckle as he continued to look outside.

"Are you going to tell your Mom about...you know?" Twilight said in a way so that Carl knew that she was talking about.

"Not yet." Carl said as he dug his hands into his pockets, "I still think she needs to know you better."

They continued to watch outside as they heard Rarity stomp down the stairs with Louis right behind her.

"I still refuse to accept your pathetic attempts to apologize to me Louis."

"Come on Rarity, please." Rarity stopped for a second as Louis walked up to her, "I know you're upset and you have every right to be, but if we want to defeat Discord..."

Rarity scoffed, "Exactly. That's why I refuse to apologize! You're only doing it to save your flank! If you weren't in any danger we wouldn't even be having this conversation because you'd still be lollygagging in your house instead of doing your duty to help us! "

Rarity let out a "humph" and turned her face away before she trotted off, Louis right behind her. They both continued this "dance" as Carl leaned into Twilight and whispered, "How much of this stubbornness is genuine and how much is it Rarity being Rarity?"

"You mean her "drama-queen" self?" Carl nodded and Twilight put her hoof to her chin in thought, "I'd say...30:70."

Carl nodded with a small chuckle, "I'd think it was 10:90."

They continued to look outside until everyone was downstairs. Spike was carrying a very heavy bag for Lisa, which was making his legs wobble, "Ugh, Lisa. Why are you bringing so much stuff?"

"It's not just mine, it's Rarity's too." Lisa said. After he heard this, Spike straightened up and suddenly held the bag without showing any sign of struggling. In fact, his face was stoic and he seemed to puff his chest out a bit.

"I got this!" he said with pure determination before he continued to walk outside. Anna walked over to Lisa and tapped her on the shoulder, "Um, Lisa, Rarity doesn't have any stuff here."

Lisa kept watching Spike effortlessly carry the bag out and smiled, "I know, but Spike isn't complaining anymore, is he?"

Lisa then went outside as Anna followed, trying not to laugh at her sister's little trick. Rarity was next out, Louis right behind her. When he gestured Rarity into his car, she blatantly ignored him. She even went so far as to close her eyes as she walked by and got into Carl's mother's SUV. Louis rolled his eyes at her stubbornness and got into his car.

Lauren, Twilight and Carl were next out. Lauren locked the door and headed to her car, while Carl and Twilight went over to the sedan that used to be Carl's father's, but had been his car for the past few days.

Once everyone was in their cars, they started off. As they drove away, Carl looked back at his house through the rear view mirror and let out a deep sigh.

"Carl, what's wrong?" Twilight asked.

Carl shook his head, "I just hate looking back at my house and not knowing when I'll be able to go back."

Twilight put her hoof onto Carl's shoulder and rubbed it, "Don't think like that Carl, everything will work out."

After that, Twilight looked forward at the road ahead as they approached the end of the street.

Pete's House

"So where are we going again, Pete?" Pete's mom shouted from her and Pete's father's room, as Pete and Pinkie Pie were in Pete's room, packing. He had just told them about Pinkie Pie, and they took it quite well, considering she was a cartoon mare. No, he didn't tell them about their feelings for each other yet, he just showed her to them. After doing that, he found out was that his parents were much quicker in their acceptance of her being real than he thought they would be.

"Um, it's the hotel off of 4-90. You know the one that has the giant billboard right next to it?" Pete shouted back to answer his mother.

"Oh yeah, got it." she shouted back.

"Hey Pete! What's the place were going to like?" Pinkie asked.

Pete looked over at Pinkie, "Um, it's a hotel. Don't you have those in Equestria?"

"Of course we do silly," she said with a giggle before bouncing closer to him, "but how big is it? Do they have a pool? I just love swimming, hey have you seen my scuba gear?"

Pete looked back down at his clothes for a second, which was apparently enough time for Pinkie to throw on the most ridiculous outfit he could imagine. When he looked back at her, he saw her wearing scuba flippers, a snorkel, huge goggles, and what looked like those orange, arm flotation devices that kids wear when they're first learning to swim.

"Pinkie," Pete said as he tried to stifle his laughter, "do you really need to wear all of that?"

Pinkie nodded quickly before responding, "Owh ywah Iwts bwad wlwuck two..."

"Uh, Pinkie maybe you should take the snorkel out of your mouth before you speak?" Pete said with a chuckle at her attempts to talk while the mouth-piece was in her mouth. She looked down at it and spat it out.

"Sorry, I forgot I had that in. And yes I do because it's back luck to go swimming without all of the necessary precautions!"

"Yeah but there are necessary precautions...and then there's what you're wearing. It's a bit excessive."

"Yep, that's me though! Excessive is my middle name! Well, not really. It's really Diane, but excessive is better anyway! And it more appropriate!" Pinkie smiled and in one motion took all of the swimming gear off and shoved it into Pete's bag. Pete looked down at her to see her giving him a big, toothy grin. "Okay fine Aquamare, if you want all that stuff I won't complain. But just know you are by far the most random pony I know."

Pinkie giggled, "But that's why you like me."

Pete smiled back as he zipped his bag up, "That I do."

They hugged each other before heading downstairs. Once they reached the bottom, they saw Pete's parents already ready and waiting to go.

"You two ready?"

They both nodded and everyone headed out.

"So Pinkie where are you from?" Pete's father asked as Pete locked the door. He turned to see Pinkie conversing with them a huge smile on her face as she bounced to the car.

"I'm from Ponyville! It in Equestria, which is in a whole other dimension than here."

Pete's dad smiled, "I sort of figured that, you know you're very energetic."

"Yep!"

"Well, I think our son needs a friend like that." Pete's mom said with a chuckle as she got into the car.

"Well that's good because I am his friend! We're like icing and cake. Or, something like that."

Pete's mom and dad just laughed as they both got into the car.

Pete was slowly making his way to the car as well. As he listened to his parents and Pinkie Pie talking, he couldn't help but smile and let out a mental sigh of relief that his parents were already so comfortable with Pinkie Pie. It made him feel more confident about his eventual need to tell them about his love for her.

Motel

Alex just got the call from Carl as Applejack continued to sleep in the small motel bed that they had shared for the night, little snores coming from her as she slept on. He now was getting ready to go make a call to his mother and step-father to warn them. Sure he was still angry at them, but that didn't mean he wanted them captured or dead. Actually, he didn't care about his step-father, but he didn't want his mother to be in danger. Alex pulled on his street clothes and was starting to put his shoes on when Applejack finally woke up.

"Alex?" she asked as she yawned, "What are ya doin'"

"I'm going to make a call." Alex said, "I need to use a pay-phone in town so they can't track us on my cell. I want you to stay here and don't go out for any reason, understand?" Applejack nodded, "Good." Alex said as he finished tying his last shoe and stood up to leave.

"Just be careful Alex." Applejack said quietly. Alex turned to her and gave her a reassuring smile.

"I will, don't worry about me AJ."

"Ah'll be here when ya get back." Applejack replied with her own, loving smile.

With that, he walked over to her and they gave each other a quick kiss before Alex went out to his car. He drove off, not noticing as Applejack nervously watched him from the window.

After a few minutes Alex managed to get into down and found a phone-booth. He stopped the car right in front of it and got out. He looked in one direction to see if anyone was watching him. When he didn't see anyone that drew his immediate attention, he looked down the other way and saw no one acting weird or watching him.

When he was sure that he was safe, he walked over to the phone booth and began to put his change in. His hand was shaking so much that he dropped a few dimes onto the ground. He put his hands out and took a deep breath.

"Come on Alex, calm down." he said to himself with a sigh before he managed to pick the coins up and put them into the phone. He dialed his home number and waited for someone to pick up, preferably his mother.

After a few rings, his prayers were answered.

"Hello?"

"Mom it's me."

There was a brief silence before Alex heard his mother come back on, "Where are you?"

"I can't tell you. Mom, you need to get out of the house as soon as possible and get to a motel."

"I'm not leaving the house Alex, Mark is still hurt from last night. He hasn't even gotten out of bed since that...thing attacked him"

Alex clenched his teeth, angry at his mother for calling Applejack a "thing".

"She has a name."

"What?"

"Her name is Applejack, she isn't a "thing", Mom she's my best friend." he said in a tone that almost sounded like a growl.

"What? She's a...a cartoon horse!"

"Mom you aren't listening to me..."

"Why aren't you home. Alex I need your help to take care of Mark..."

Now Alex started to get angry, "Sorry I don't want to help you take care of the man who tried to kill me last night."

A few seconds later he heard his mother let out a deep sigh, "Alex you know he doesn't mean that he just..."

"Mom!" Alex shouted angrily, effectively silencing his mother on the other end. Alex could feel a mix of anger and pity welling up within him, tears began to run down his red-hot cheeks. He clenched his fist and pressed it against the wall of the phone-booth and leaned into it.

"Mom, you need to leave. And I don't care if you take Mark with you or not, but I want you out of there. I know you care about him but you've got to understand in doing so you're only hurting yourself and those who actually care about you. Mom, you threw Dad under the bus and now you're doing the same to me. You didn't help me last night because you're afraid of him, but you defend him at every opportunity, even with everything that he does to you."

Alex pressed his hand even more against the glass wall of the booth as he began to cry harder, not really sobbing but he was crying enough to know it over the phone. "I love you mom but...but if you keep pushing the people who love you away in favor of that dick...you're going to be alone. You've got to stop, please just...listen to me this one time mom. I love you, and I don't want to lose you."

Alex then closed his eyes and began to cry as he waited for a response over the phone. When he didn't hear any, he wiped his tears away and sniffled a little.

"Hello...Mom?"

Silence. Alex suddenly got worried that he hurt her feelings, "Mom...Mom I'm sorry if I..."

Then a sadistic, male voice came over the line.

"I'm sorry Alex she can't come to the phone now."

Alex's eyes widened as he heard the man's voice. He did know it was one of Discord's men, but he didn't know who it was because he never ran into him like Carl had.

But if Carl was there, he would have known it was Brett.

"Who..who is this?"

"Let's just say I'm a catalyst of chaos."

Alex started to get nervous as he slowly stood up, "Wha...what did you do to my mom?"

"She's a little "frozen", my magic will prevent her from moving for a long as I want her to remain in place. But I promise that if you turn yourself and your little element friends in I'll free her and your drunk step-father."

Alex's face was turning red in anger, his hand began to shake when he slammed his fist into the wall of the phone booth as he heard Brett chuckle on the other end.

"You'd better let her go." Alex hissed.

"I will! Like I said, all you have to do it turn yourself and your little pony friend in, and we have a deal. Perhaps you can even tell me where the others are?"

Alex felt torn for a second. He would never turn Applejack over to this bastard, but he would turn himself in if it meant his mother would be free. He was having an internal conflict when he remembered how this man was not only untrustworthy, but Alex was needed to stop him and, if he turned himself in, Discord would be victorious. Not only that, but he knew if he turned himself in he'd be forced to reveal the location of the others, and he couldn't do that to them.

"I don't think so." Alex muttered into the phone with pure hatred before he slammed the phone into the cradle to hang up. He was fuming and after a few seconds of standing in the booth, his rage and sorrow building. He quickly grabbed the phone again and slammed it into the cradle another three times before he punched the glass and stormed off to his truck. Tears were streaming down his face as he felt like he had just left his mom to the wolves. He knew that the choice he made was the logical one, but he was so livid about leaving her that he wanted to cry. He could feel some blood trickle down his hand from the area of the knuckle that he had hit the glass booth with.

And once he was back in his truck, the door shut and the engine on, he pressed his head into the steering wheel and did just that.

He sobbed.

James' House

"I love her." James muttered as he stared at his parents with stoic eyes, hiding the fact that he was scared as hell after being caught in the middle of a kiss with Fluttershy, even if he did love her and think she was the most beautiful girl that he ever knew.

His parents both looked stern and disappointed while Patrick had a look that showed disappointment, but also smugness. The same smugness that James knew to expect from his brother after living with him for seventeen years. His real concern, however, was with Fluttershy. He looked over at her and saw her not looking at his parents. She was snaking and some tears were running down her face. He never wanted to see her hurt, and he knew that this situation was causing her pain that he just wanted to take away.

"This isn't normal James." his mother said in the same condescending tone that she always used when talking to him.

"Must you always be so...hard on your mother and I?" his father asked in the most rude, patronizing way. With each word that his parents uttered, his blood began to boil.

"I don't remember you getting this way when Uncle Dan came out of the closet." James hissed.

"Being gay is one thing, but you...you were making out with this...thing."

Fluttershy let out an "eep" and cringed a bit before James heard her whisper, "I'm...sorry."

"She's not a thing." Alex snarled through clenched teeth.

"She's a horse." Patrick said with wide eyes, as if he was just so ecstatic to cause James so much pain.

"She's more human than any of you three fucks are." James snapped back.

"Can...I say something...if you don't..." Fluttershy began, but James' father cut her off.

"Shut up you little demon." he snarled, making Fluttershy's eyes go wide. "and stay away from our son."

Fluttershy began to cry again and then she turned and flew out of the kitchen. James watched her go and stood up angrily, "You three are evil, do you know that? Can't I do ANYTHING in this house without you giving me a lecture on how I "could improve"! Every day I come home and every time I say something you shoot it down, anytime I do ANYTHING YOU SAY IT WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH." James was red with fury as he looked down on his parents, who had indifferent expressions on their face, as if they didn't care what he had to say. James didn't care, though, he still wanted to get his point across "AND I FINALLY FIND SOMEONE WHO ACTUALLY IS THERE FOR ME, WHO ACTUALLY CARES ABOUT ME AND YOU TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME! HOW DARE YOU!" he shouted.

"James don't talk to us like that!" James' father shouted, "and why do you think we're so disappointed? When we have a son like Patrick of course you're disappointing. He has a better work ethic than you and, hell, he does everything better than you. All you do is disappoint us, and now we hear that you're in love with a cartoon horse."

"Seriously we just wish you could be more like him."

"Wow." James thought in shock. He knew that what his parents were telling him was true, as he always suspected it. But to hear them come out and blatantly tell him these things, things that no decent parents would ever say to their son, surprised him so an unbelievable extent. And once he saw Patrick's smug smile he decided to finally spill the beans on his douche-bag brother.

"Well then maybe I should deal ganja out of my fucking room so I could be more like your "precious" Patrick!"

Both of his parents looked at him confused as Patrick's smile dropped and his eyes went wide in fear.

"What are you talking about?"

James smiled, "Ask you're "perfect" son what I'm talking about."

And with that, he quickly stormed out of the house to see where Fluttershy had gone.

As soon as he opened the door, however, he was met with the sight of Fluttershy being held down on his lawn by two men outside, her eyes wide in fear.

"Fluttershy!" he shouted before he made a dash over to her, only to be tackled by another man, who pinned him to the ground. He watched as several other men ran into his house before he could hear his parents scream, followed by a yellow flash of light. He looked up at the man who was holding him down, "What did you do! Let us go!"

The man smiled, "Nonsense, you and Fluttershy are needed down at the police station for some questioning."

And with that, the man pressed his finger to James' forehead. In an instant, a searing pain shot through his entire body, like he was being ripped apart from the inside. He closed his eyes and let out a scream before he slumped to the ground. He could feel blood trickling out of his nose and eyes as he looked over to see Fluttershy still struggling with the other men. He weakly reached his hand out towards her direction, his vision getting hazy. as he saw her eyes looking directly at him, pleading for his help.

"Fluttershy..." he managed to whisper out before the world became black and he slipped into the void of unconsciousness.

**I hope everyone ejoyed that chapter. Like I said, I am going to most likely be posting more often now that college is done for the summer. **

**Anyways, thanks for reading, reviewing, etc.**

**And, as always...**

**Go Giants! Go Rainbow Dash!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14- Home Away from Home and Interrogation**

**Well, I've caught up in the Episodes and am now officially waiting for season 3. Got to say, the season 2 finale was unbelievably outstanding. **

**So now I can actually have more up-to-date references in this story. **

**I also appreciate all of the reviews I've gotten for my last chapter (six I think), so thank you to everyone who either read, or who reviewed and read, my story so far.**

**I hope you enjoy this next chapter, and I only own my OC's.**

**And if you thought everything so far was dark, you haven't seen anything yet.**

**Ryan's Hotel Room**

"I told you I wanted cider with this breakfast, and now you're telling me that you're out?" Ryan hissed with an irritated tone at the room service server that had stopped by with his and Rainbow Dash's breakfasts, or brunch, as it was almost noon, and Ryan wanted a burger.

"I'm sorry sir, but we're out." The deliverer said. Ryan sighed and shook his head.

"No apple juice either?" Ryan asked.

The server just shook his head, "No, apparently you picked a day when people had a craving for apples, sorry."

"Whatever, thanks anyway." He grabbed the cart and started to pull it into his room when he stopped and handed the server a small tip, pointing at the deliverer sternly, "Just so you know, though, my friend's going to be pissed off, she's obsessed with cider."

"Well there's nothing I can do sir, we're out."

Ryan nodded, "I know, I just thought that I'd give you a fair warning."

The server gave Ryan a confused look, "Erm..._thanks_?"

Ryan then walked back into the room and shut the door. He went over to the bed to see Rainbow Dash lying laying down in a rainbow tie-dye t-shirt looking at the food tray that Ryan brought in with desire, for she was starving.

"Thank Celestia the food got here, I'm starting to hear my stomach growl." She said, looking down as a small noise emitted from her stomach. "He-he, speaking of which."

"Well, the savior has arrived in the form of a cart of food." Ryan smirked before giving a small bow as if he is presenting some great, holy relic to Rainbow Dash.

"Thank you again Ryan."

"No problem."

"You know it was really cool of your mom to give me this shirt." Rainbow Dash said while looking down at the tie-dye shirt, "she's really warmed up to me."

"Her an my Dad both," Ryan said as he wheeled the cart over to the bed, "I'm actually shocked at how well they're dealing with everything. Our house was destroyed, along with their concept of reality, and we're being hunted by a group of anarchists, yet they are acting like we're on vacation. Truly unbelievable, but I guess denial is a potent thing. Either that or bravery…or both."

"Yeah they're pretty awesome." Rainbow Dash giggled. She crawled over to the cart and looked at what was on it, eyes scanning the surface for something specific. When suddenly she looked up at Ryan with a confused look on her face, "W-where's the cider?"

Ryan rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "Yeah Dashie, about that…"

Rainbow Dash's eyes went wide and they seemed to twitch a bit as her mouth quivered while she tried to say something, "They're…they're _out_!" Ryan nodded and Rainbow Dash face-hoofed and fell back against the pillow in dramatic fashion before letting out a groan. "Ugh, why is it every time I want cider it's gone? Why is the cider always gone!"

"Because, Captain Sparrow, the writers thought you're addiction and subsequent anger at being denied the drink would be funny."

Rainbow Dash grumbled a bit, "Stupid writers using my pain for entertainment purposes, if I ever run into them, they're going to be sorry." She stuck her hoof out and punched it with the other, as if she was symbolizing "to pound them".

She sat back up and got off of the bed before trotting over to the cart to see her food, which consisted of cantaloupe and some cereal. She licked her lips, "Well, at least the rest of this looks tasty."

Ryan shrugged, "For hotel food I suppose. Hey do you want me to get anything from my parents' room? Maybe they have some apple juice or something from the store that you can drink instead of cider."

Rainbow Dash's disappointed face turned into an appreciative smile, "That'd be great, thanks Ryan." She said before she plunged her face into the dish to eat the cantaloupe. Ryan smiled and exited the room and went next-door to his parents' room. The hall was mostly quiet, as Wilmont wasn't the place where rowdy kids would go for vacation. The only hotel guests usually were people who stayed in town either for business purposes, or family matters. Once he reached his parents' room, he knocked and waited until his father answered.

"Hey Ryan, do you and Rainbow Dash need anything?"

"Yeah, did you and mom get any apple juice or something similar at the store yesterday?"

Ryan's Dad thought for a second and then smiled, "Actually, I think we did. Honey?"

"Way ahead of you." Said Ryan's mom as she walked to the door with a jug of apple cider.

"Whoa, you actually got cider?" They nodded and Ryan grinned, "This is perfect Dashie's going to love this, thank you very much."

"She likes apple cider?" his father asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, a lot. Wait! This is non-alcoholic right?" Ryan asked, pointing at the jug that he was now holding. Both of his parents nodded and Ryan smiled, "Brilliant."

"Yeah you're lucky we got it this time, it's probably the first time in years that we've gotten cider." Ryan's mother said.

Ryan shrugs, "Better late than never I suppose, plus you picked the right time."

He was about to turn away when he heard his mother call back tom him, "Oh Ryan! Another question, why do you keep calling her Dashie as opposed to Rainbow Dash? Is that her nickname? Because I don't want to keep calling her Rainbow Dash if she prefers Dashie."

"Rainbow Dash is fine, I call her Dashie because we're close friends. Either name works for her I think." Ryan said with a smile before he turned and continued down the hall. His mom then added, "You two can keep the cider by the way, after all Rainbow Dash is our guest and if she likes cider as much as you say she does, she'll want to drink all of it. Plus it's the least we can do, she's really a polite girl…er…_pony_."

"Glad to hear you like her, I was nervous she would freak you out too much when you first met her." Ryan said before he proceeded to his room. Once back inside, he shut the door and walked over to Rainbow Dash, whose eyes were closed as she lay back against the pillows with her hooves on her stomach, patting it in satisfaction as she smiled warmly. She also had some cantaloupe juice and milk on her face from her messy eating.

Ryan's jaw dropped at the sight of her and the empty plate and bowl on the cart, "You already finished eating?"

She looked over at him and gave a small chuckle, "He-he, I eat pretty fast. Sorry if I look a bit messy."

"Nah that's cool. Besides, you look adorable right now." He said as he walked over to her and handed the jug to her, "Here I've got something for you. Thought you might like it."

She looked at the jug, then back at Ryan, before looking back at the cider. "Is…is that…."

Ryan nodded "Cider."

If Ryan could describe Rainbow Dash's face, he would say it looked like Jesus was handing her the Holy Grail. Her face curled into a smile and her eyes were almost bulging out of their sockets as she raised her hooves to her mouth to cover them as she broke out into her "fan-girl" spasm.

"Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh!" she said in the same cute manner that she had after meeting the Wonderbolts, "Thank you Ryan! Thank you!"

She grabbed the jug from Ryan and used her teeth to remove the cap. She spat the cap to the ground before holding the mug up and chugging it. After a few gulps, she removed it from her lips and let out a satisfied sigh before holding it back out for Ryan, who held out his hand to reject it.

"This is really good. Not as good as the stuff AJ makes, but it still hits the spot." Rainbow Dash said before taking another swig. She then removed the jug from her lips and smiled, "Well then you can take it back to your parents if you want. I don't want to drink all of it; tell them thanks for me."

"They said you could have the whole thing."

Rainbow Dash's face fell to show her disbelief before she suddenly got serious, "Ryan don't tease me like this."

"I'm not teasing you." Ryan said with a chuckle.

"I'm serious Ryan, if you're lying to me about this as a part of some sick joke regarding my love of cider..."

"Drink it Dashie, I swear my parents said it's okay." Ryan said with a reassuring smile.

Rainbow Dash then beamed, "Ryan, you and your parents are the coolest."

With that last statement, she chugged the rest of the cider before lying back against the couch with her eyes closed. Ryan walked over to her and got next to her, rubbing her stomach.

"Well coming from the coolest girl I know I take that as a compliment."

She laughed and they kissed.

**Carl's House**

Brett walked out of Carl's house with an expression plastered on his face that can only be described as "pure aggravation". He and the others found out nothing other than the fact that Carl and his family were not home.

Also present at the scene to help search were Lawrence, Sean, Lance and some other members of the Milites Chaos who continued to search the home from top to bottom, making sure that they had not overlooked anything, and that Carl's family was truly gone.

All around, the neighborhood was being torn apart by other members of the gang. Houses began to burn and explosions could be heard over the familiar, eerie Latin chant that had accompanied them into Leigh Heights two nights before.

Once outside, Brett pulled a cigarette out and began to smoke it when his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and answered. He spoke to the caller for a second before his angry expression subsided only to make way for sadistic jubilance that he hadn't shown since after he killed Bright Illusion. He hung up and called Lawrence over to him.

"Yes sir?" said the anarchist teen.

"I want you to organize a group and head over to where Ryan is staying and take care of him and Rainbow Dash, I've got something else that I need to attend to."

Lawrence smiled evilly, "Yes, sir. But, what must you do, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Based on who we have in custody, the wording of your question is quite ironic," Brett chuckled, referring to the _"if you don't mind me asking"_ part before he replied, "Officer Cantor told me he has one of the punks in custody, as well as his little mare-friend. I'm going to pay him a visit and see if I can get him to sing like a canary."

Brett walked off to his SUV. Lawrence smiled and turned to the others, who were busy pouring gasoline all over Carl's house. Sean had a match out, ready to be lit so the home could be set ablaze with the rest of the neighborhood.

"Hey idiots! We have a job!"

They turned to look at Lawrence, who just smiled at them.

"Let's get a group together, I think it's time we caused some more pain to little rich-boy Ryan and his sky-blue, pony friend Rainbow Dyke."

They grinned and with that, they headed off, but not before Sean lit the match and threw it into the gasoline, which eventually set Carl's entire house ablaze. The three anarchists went off to find some other members of their mob to help them in their mission to "take care of" Ryan. Finding other people to help them out wasn't going to be too hard of a task, as the Milites Chaos were all around; ransacking and burning homes left and right, killing people who resisted while letting those who sat idly by and watched their possessions get stolen and burnt, were allowed to live.

After all, they were mostly middle class and, therefore, not the main targets of the Milites Chaos.

**Alex's Motel**

Applejack was lying in bed nervously as she waited for Alex to get back from making his phone call in town She stared up at the ceiling as the afternoon rays of light shone through the blinds and landed across her face. The ceiling fan kept spinning above her, blowing her blonde mane around a little bit and providing her with come cool air in the otherwise stuffy and humid motel room. Her forelegs lay across her stomach; her hooves were pressed together due to her anxiety, much how people wring their fingers when they get scared about something like the medical boards.

She let out a sigh and turned her head towards the door, her green eyes staring at it with an expression that was both lonely and concerned. She was uncertain about his arrival, hoping that he would get back as soon as possible so she could know for certain that he was okay.

"_Where are ya Alex?"_ she thought with apprehension.

She let out a deep sigh before turning onto her back and she continued to stare up at the ceiling fan. She wasn't used to being this protective of anyone or anypony, the only one being Applebloom, and that was because of her young age. She had hoped that Discord's men did not track him down, and she certainly hoped that he was able to reach his parents in time to tell them to get out safely.

A moment later, the door to the motel room opened up. Applejack looked over to see Alex standing in the doorway, looking down at the ground and his face emotionless. He shut the door but did not move from where he was standing.

Applejack sat up with a concerned look on her face, "Alex?"

When he didn't respond, she got off of the bed and trotted over to him so she stood right in his line of sight, his green eyes were clearly holding back a plethora of emotions that his poker face only veiled thinly.

"Alex, what's wrong?" Applejack asked.

"My mom…..Discord's…men they…they…" Alex closed his eyes and leaned back against the door and put his face into his hand and let out a deep sigh, trying to hide his tears from Applejack, "…they have her and I abandoned her….I didn't want him…to get you so I abandoned her." Alex lowered his hand and looked at Applejack, his eyes were red and tears formed in the corners. His voice was only slightly shaky though, as he was often one of the more stoic guys in the group, and often would vent his emotions when he was alone rather in the presence in others, explaining how he was able to sob in the car rather than now. "I….I won't ever let them get to you but…I just…let them take my mom."

Applejack got onto her hind legs and got up to Alex's chin level, which was as high as she could get and looked directly into his eyes, even though they weren't looking at her.

"Alex look at me." Alex looked down into Applejack's eyes, which were full of concern, "Ya didn't do anythin' wrong, Discord gave ya a choice that was a double-edged sword, ya couldn't win either way." She then looked down sadly, "But…if it makes ya feel better ah'll turn myself in if it gets yer mom back." She looked up at Alex sadly.

Alex shook his head, "No AJ, I won't let you do that. I love you more than anypony, and I won't ever betray you or let you turn yourself in for any reason. I'd die before I stand by and let that happen."

They hugged each other and Alex closed his eyes. He didn't cry audibly, due to his previously mentioned strong-willed nature, but he still did let out some quiet sobs into Applejacks' warm, soft shoulder. He could feel her hoof rubbing his back as she tried to comfort him, "Shhhhhh….It's okay Alex, ah know you would never betray me, and ah'm serious when ah say that ya didn't do anythin' wrong. Ah don't lie to anypony, and ah never would lie to ya about this."

Alex nodded while his face was still planted in her orange fur, "Thanks AJ, I really am glad you're here to get me through these moments."

They both slowly fell to the floor so they were in a sitting position, but they still embraced each other. They remained in their hug for at least another hour. Alex did not want to let go of Applejack for any reason whatsoever. He didn't want to separate from her warm, welcoming body that made him calm as he felt her heart beat in unison with his own. So they remained together, not moving, for a long while.

After a while, they both decided to move on and call the others. Alex called Carl to let him know what happened. Carl was clearly sympathetic for Alex, but didn't know what to do other than think over a plan. Alex agreed and after he hung up the phone, he and Applejack sat at the small table that was in their little motel room. After a while, Alex's sadness subsided, which was mostly due to Applejack's successful attempts to get his mind off of it by discussing her life on Sweet Apple Acres. She also gave Alex her own personal synopses of each episode that she was in or, in her case, each of the best adventures that she had with her friends. Alex had to admit that it was awesome to hear the episodes told by her, that is when he was actually listening to her speak. Every now and then he'd find himself drifting off to either his mother, which she often noticed and would tap his arm to bring his attention back to her. He also often found himself becoming lost in Applejack's green eyes. Regardless, though he still thought about his mother's safety, Applejack really did make him feel less depressed about it by talking to him.

"And that's how we bear the changelings and saved Shining Armor and Princess Cadence's wedding." Applejack concluded, "And, well, that's the last thing ah can really talk about."

Alex nodded, "You know it's actually much better hearing the story come from you than seeing it."

Applejack giggled, "Good ta hear."

"Thanks for cheering me up a little." Alex said, still with some sadness in his voice.

Applejack put her hoof onto Alex's hand, "Don't worry Alex, we'll get yer mom out of this mess, ah promise."

"I know we will," Alex nodded sadly, "Thanks AJ."

**Police Station (James interrogated)**

"Hey, punk wake up."

James was suddenly jolted awake when he felt a sharp pain shoot through his head. As his eyes opened, he looked around to see his surroundings; he was in a grey interrogation room with a single light located on a desk that was directly in front of him. He looked up to see the familiar face of the police officer that had tackled him and knocked him out after he left his house to go after Fluttershy.

"I'm sorry for the rough treatment, but I just couldn't allow you and your little mare friend to get away." The officer said tauntingly, "My name is Officer Cantor, bit if you'd like to know, my Equestrian name is Shaded Wind, and yes I am a unicorn if you must know."

James tries to lunge at the officer, but realized that he was restrained to the chair that he is sitting in by rope. After he gives a few more attempts to get at the officer that was still flashing a very smug smile, James gave up and leaned back against the chair. His chest was expanding and contracting quickly as his breathing rate had increased significantly.

"It's always good to see a prisoner accept his fate," Officer Cantor laughed, "Obscure will be here soon to deal with your and provide you with a proper means of punishment."

James clenched his fists together; even though his arms were still plastered to his sides by the rope he was able to do this.

"Where's Fluttershy?" he growled.

"She's safe," Officer Cantor said, "for now. If I were you I'd make sure not to piss off the wrong person or pony in here. For your sake as well as hers."

James' face turned red and he made another lunge at the officer, angry that he was openly threatening such an innocent creature as Fluttershy, especially since James cared about her so much and had just recently expressed his feelings of affection to her. Officer Cantor just continued to smile arrogantly at James, knowing that he would never reach him from the chair that he was bound to, before he turned and walked out of the room. He shut the door, leaving James alone in the room with another officer that James didn't recognize.

But he didn't really take notice, he was too busy fuming and shouting at the closed door.

"Get back here! If you do anything to her I'll kill you, you fucking ass-hole!" James shouted from his seat, scooting towards the door in the chair until he fell forward onto the cold, hard ground.

He looked up and saw the other officer slowly making his way towards him, his hand glowing with aura and a demonic smile growing on his face.

James tried to get free, but it was no use. The officer pulled his chair up off of the ground so he was back sitting up. He then placed his and to the James' head.

"Where are your friends?" he asked as his aura-engulfed hand slowly turned into a hoof.

James looked at the man and spat, "I…I don't know.'

That's when the officer pushed his hoof into James' head, sending horrible pain throughout his entire body. James screamed like as he felt like he was being mutilated, pain shooting through every nerve and muscle, radiating into his bone marrow and burning his skin. Every conceivable portion of his body screamed in agony as the "police officer" continued to use his apparent Unicorn magic to cause pain to course through his body.

Through all of this, James did manage to have one recurring thought flood into his mind.

"_When the fuck did all of these Unicorns get here?"_

**Ryan's Hotel- Evening**

Ryan and Rainbow Dash were both sitting on their bed watching television, as there was absolutely nothing else to do. Rainbow Dash wanted to go swimming in the pool downstairs, but Ryan talked her out of it by saying how dangerous and risky it would be, as their cover would be blown. She later begged Ryan to let her go across the hall to pull a prank on a girl that had called Ryan a "shrimpy nerd-bag", due to his shorter size and more thin frame. But, again, Ryan didn't want her to blow their cover so he told her to stay put, which Rainbow Dash only rolled her eyes at.

So, here they were, bored out of their minds with nothing to do. That is, however, until Rainbow Dash suddenly thought about something that had been on her mind for the past few days.

"Um Ryan?" she asked as she twiddled her hooves together nervously.

"Yeah, what's up Dashie?"

"When are you going to tell your parents about us." she said looking up at him with her big, red eyes that melted his soul, "because we can't keep it a secret forever, and after meeting your parents, they seem cool. I think that they'll will be fine with us being…you know…._ romantically _involved."

Ryan closed his eyes; silently wishing that Rainbow Dash hadn't asked that question yet, as he was still wasn't comfortable telling them.

"I…I know you're right; that I have to tell my parents soon, but I'm still not confident that they'll handle it well."

"Ryan, look at me." Ryan opened his eyes and looked into Rainbow Dash's own. She placed her hoof onto Ryan's shoulder to reassure him, "Just like I was there when you first showed me to them, I'll be there to help you tell them about us. And if things get ugly in any way, I'll have your back."

Ryan smiled and gave Rainbow Dash a quick kiss on her forehead before he sighed, "My parents better accept you, and if they don't, they'll have to kick me out because I don't ever want to be with any girl other than you, and my parents won't be able to convince me otherwise."

Rainbow Dash chuckled, "You're so cheesy."

Ryan shrugged and got off of the bed and walked over to the small table to grab his wallet.

"Dashie, I'm going to Carl's place. I want you to stay here until I get back, got it? That means no going downstairs to the free buffet or to the pool, and I especially don't want you to pull any pranks on that girl in 302."

Rainbow Dash's expression became disappointed, "Aw come on, she called you a shrimp, that was mean! At least let me pour some water on her head or something!"

Ryan glared at her and she rolled her eyes, "Fine, just this once I won't defend your honor." She raised her right hoof up and put her left hoof across her chest and closed her eyes, as if she was giving a formal pledge in front of a judge. "I promise I'll stay put."

Ryan nodded, "Thank you Dashie, I appreciate your restraint."

He started out of the room when he heard Rainbow Dash call after him, "Also think about telling your parents while you're out, you know, if you want. Maybe being away from me and them will make it easier to think of a way to tell them."

"Dashie I'm not sure if I'm ready yet."

Rainbow Dash shrugged, "I know, I'm just suggesting that you think about it. Nothing else."

Ryan nodded and gave her another smile; "I will, Dashie. I'll see you in a little bit."

And with that, Ryan left the room to go get the car keys from his parents. Rainbow Dash looked outside through the window at the parking lot, waiting for Ryan to go out to his car.

As she watched him leave, she waved to him and, surprisingly to her; he actually looked up in the direction of the window and waved back.

She gave a small giggle and pressed her face against the glass, _"Ryan, you've been so great to me, I love you so much. I know you may not like what I'm about to do, but in the long-term I think you'll be happy. If things go as I think they will. I don't want you to stress about it."_

With that, Rainbow Dash pushed herself away from the window and walked back over the bed to think over her plan to tell Ryan's parents herself as Ryan continued off towards Carl's house.

Neither knew the horrors that they would face in the next few hours.

**Carl's Hotel Room**

The group had arrived at the hotel about a few hours before. Louis and Rarity were in one room. Pete, Pinkie and Pete's parents were in another, and Carl was in the last room with his mother, sisters, Spike and Twilight.

Yes, they got a huge room.

Carl's mother was across the hall talking to Pete's parents about the situation that they were in, and why they had to evacuate. Carl and Twilight were both laying on one of the beds, looking over the small, green box that the Princess had given them. They were looking at the face of the box that had the cutie marks on it. Like before, only Rarity's remained faded and un-glowing.

"So until Rarity forgives Louis, I guess it won't glow."

Twilight nodded, "When she does, it should open and we'll get to see what's inside."

"Do you think it'll help us?"

"It better," Twilight said, "I mean, the Princess went out of her way to give it to us, so it should."

Carl kept looking at the box until he saw a tear land on it. He looked up to see Twilight looking down with tears in her eyes. Carl didn't even know that she was upset until that moment and instantly became concerned.

"Twilight what's wrong?" Carl asked as he put the box down onto the table.

Twilight shook her head, "It's just…I'm still sad about my Uncle Bright. I guess putting off my emotions for a few hours always manages to catch up to you." She said with a weak smile before closing her eyes. She buried her face into her forelegs and started to cry again. Anna, Lisa and Spike all turned around as they heard Twilight's starting to let out small sobs.

"Twilight is everything okay?" Spike asked as he jogged over.

"She's fine Spike, she's still just upset about her Uncle." Carl said, "let her get it out, she's held back this long to help us get to safety, she needs to vent her emotions."

Spike nodded in understanding as Carl stroked Twilight's back as he did before to relax her. The door to the hotel room opened and Lauren walked in. She shut the door and looked to see Carl stroking Twilight as she cried. Everyone was too busy watching the crying unicorn to notice that she had come in.

"Twilight what's wrong?" Lauren asked, walking over to her.

"She's still sad about her Uncle dying."

Lauren walked over to Twilight, "Twilight it's okay." She said as she got down onto her knee and looked at Twilight in the eyes, even though they were closed. "We're here for you.

Now Spike decided to ignore Carl's statement about her being okay and walked over to make Twilight feel better.

Anna and Lisa also joined, making Twilight finally open her eyes and look around.

She slowly sat up, "I'm…I'm sorry that I'm such an emotional wreck." She wiped some more tears away from her eyes.

"Twilight don't worry about it," Lauren said, "All of us are here for you."

She looked around to see Carl, Spike, Lauren, Anna and Lisa all giving her reassuring smiles. She suddenly felt much better as she noticed how much everyone in that room cared about her.

"Thanks everypony…er I mean, everyone. I need to work on that vocabulary, he-he." She said with a small, sad chuckle.

"Twilight," Carl said so she looked up at him, "all of us will help you get through this."

"Yeah. You are a part of our family," Anna chimed in, "after everything that you've gone through with our brother, it only makes sense that we are there for you no matter what."

"Everything will be fine." Spike added, trying to give her his own comforting smile.

Twilight nodded and gave everyone around her a slightly happier, and very appreciative, smile "Thanks...thanks everyone."

"Hey, you got the term right that time." Lisa chuckled.

Twilight wiped some tears away from her eyes, and Lauren finally realized something. "Twilight, I just realized you and Carl have the same eye-color."

Twilight nodded, "Yeah," she looked up at Carl with a face that showed more gratitude than anyone had ever shown to Carl, "I know, we're connected like that." She jumped up and hugged Carl, "Thank you for everything Carl."

Carl smiled and hugged her back, "Anytime Twi."

Now, Lauren was no fool. She could tell that there were romantic feelings between Carl and Twilight simply based on how they acted around each other. All Lauren could do was smile at this. She didn't care that Twilight was a cartoon pony from another dimension, all she cared about was that she and Carl were in love with each other, and were obviously there to support each other.

She didn't say anything, but felt happy that after years of not finding a girl that he could be in a long-term relationship with, her son finally found a girl that he had such a connection with.

**Louis' Hotel Room**

Louis and Rarity were both in their hotel room on opposite beds. Both were looking away from each other. Louis had a thinking face on as he tried to come up with something to say that would properly convey to the pony how bad he felt, but he couldn't think of anything else to say to her that he hadn't already said. So for the time being he remained silent.

He looked over to see Rarity's face still had the same stubborn scowl that it did for the past few hours. Even though he knew was mostly an act, he let her keep it up because he knew that he deserved to be snubbed by her after the way he had treated her and hurt her feelings. But he still felt like he needed to apologize, so he decided to give it another shot.

"Rarity, I…." he started before she held her hoof up to silence him.

"Don't even bother with the apology Louis. I am sorry but I can not forgive you that easily." She said looking over at him with her scowling face, "I will work with you to defeat Discord, but that is all. I am doing this for your world and the others. Not. For. You." She pointed her hoof with each of the last three words to add emphasis to them. "Understood?"

Louis nodded, "Understood."

Rarity turned back away, crossing her for-legs and staring at the wall next to her, and opposite the bed that Louis was laying on.

"But I am truly sorry," Louis continued as he looked at the ground in shame, "you're my favorite character on the show and I treated you like dirt. I don't deserve your forgiveness."

Suddenly Rarity's ears perked up and she quickly turned around to face Louis with eyes that showed some excitement. She pointed a hoof to herself, 'I'm…I'm your favorite?"

Louis looked up at her and saw her interested face. She still was not smiling. She even still had the same hint of anger that she had since Louis went back to Carl's house to ask to join them in their quest to defeat Discord. In this case, however, her eyes betrayed her and gave away her true attitude, which wasn't anywhere near as angry as she made herself out to be.

"W-why am I your favorite?" she asked, as if she didn't believe it.

Louis shrugged, "I don't know, you're pretty funny and cool for being the "girly-girl" type. Also, you have the generous nature that I want in a girl, and, well…."

"I have the generous nature that you want in a girl? Why Louis, what are you getting at?" she asked with a sly, teasing smirk and eyes that seemed to be prying into Louis' mind as if she was trying to get him to admit something to her that he didn't want her to know. He raised his hands in frantic defense.

"No, not like that! I just, you're just very generous and everything and…well, I like your work ethic." He said, "You have a passion for designing clothes and you go all out, I…I just wish I could be like that, to do what I want and excel at it."

"But darling you do love…er…" she puts her hoof to her chin in thought as she tried to remember the name of the sport that her elemental partner played, "…that sport you play with the ball and…"

Louis chuckled at her confusion, "Soccer."

Rarity clapped her hooves together once in a light bulb moment. "Soccer, yes that's it. You are great at that, and you appear to love it, you should be happy."

"Yeah I guess." Louis said with an uncertain tone that did not go unnoticed by Rarity, who suddenly gave Louis a perplexed look.

"Why in Equestria would you say that with such doubt?" Rarity asked, "I thought you adored soccer…or whatever it's called. I mean, the newspaper wrote that extensive article on you and your astounding abilities to play, not to mention how good you looked when you were at the park that day."

"I do like it, Rarity. Hell, I love it. The feeling of competition and being with friends, it's really amazing." He said with a smile before his expression slowly fell and he looked down, "But that doesn't mean I want to do it for the rest of my life, I have other interests."

"You mean you are only doing it because…you're good at it?"

Louis sighed, "I want to do my parents' memory's proud. Everyone says how I'm supposed to brings the national spotlight onto the Wilmont sport's scene since I'm the first big athlete to come out of it in years. If I quit, I let everyone down."

"But that's no reason to do something you don't want to." Rarity said as she leaned forward in her bed, looking directly into Louis' eyes, "Louis, darling if you don't truly have a passion for something you shouldn't do chose it as your profession."

"The thing is I do like it." Louis muttered, "And I love the fame it's brought me, and what it might bring me in the future. But as a game itself, I don't know I guess I like that my playing makes so many people happy rather than me. And my parents would have wanted that."

"Oh that's right, your parents. Dear I am so sorry that you had to go through such a terrible thing at such a young age." Rarity said as she got off of the bed and walked over to Louis, putting her hoof onto his thigh, "but your parents would have wanted you to do what you wanted, not what others wanted."

Louis nodded and Rarity got off of his thigh and hugged him. He slowly hugged back.

After their embrace, Rarity broke off and looked at him, "And I'm sorry I was so stubborn earlier, I do forgive you for acting like a brute…no offence."

"None taken Rarity. I'm sorry for acting like I did as well; there was no excuse for that. I was just being selfish." Louis said looking at her with a smile.

They hugged each other one last time before Rarity's eyes shot open and she pulled back, putting her hoof to her nose as if she just smelled a port-a-potty that was in constant use, "Oh Louis, I really must suggest that you change out of these filthy clothes."

Louis looked down and remembered he was still wearing the sweat-drenched clothes that he ran in Actually, the sweat had dried off and they smelled horrible.

"Oh, damn. You got that right." Louis laughed a little before he stood up and started towards the bathroom before he stopped, "Oh wait, I don't have anything to change into."

Rarity closed her eyes and smiled, "No need to worry," she got off of the bed and walked over to a white package that was on the counter, "I actually wanted to give this to you as a gift after we first met, but since that didn't work out, now seems like an appropriate time."

She handed him the package, which he opened to see an exact replica of his St. Mary's soccer jersey and shorts.

"Wow Rarity, this is unbelievable. How did you…"

"It was nothing," she said with a wave of her hoof as if to brush off her accomplishment, "I simply copied what I saw in that newspaper article of you. I do hope it fits you, after all I only had the picture to go by."

Louis held the jersey up and saw that it was a near perfect fit. He also held the shorts up and saw that they, too, fit extremely well. He looked up at Rarity, "This is perfect Rarity, thank you so much."

"Anytime Louis, now go shower so I can burn those dreadful things." She said, gesturing to the clothes that he was wearing. Louis nodded and with a grateful smile, headed off to the bathroom.

Rarity watched him go and once he was inside the bathroom, her face was beet red and she fall back onto the mattress giggling like a school-girl that had a crush on the star athlete.

She didn't know that in the bathroom, a very flustered Louis was getting undressed with a big smile on his face as he thought about Rarity, and how happy she made him feel, just like she had whenever he watched the show.

**Pete's Room**

"So what do you do again Mr. Pete's Dad?" Pinkie asked with a big grin.

"Mr. Reynolds." Pete's father corrected the hyperactive pony, "and I work for an advertisement agency."

"Oh that sounds really cool. Does that mean you put billboards up? And make commercials?" Mr. Reynolds nodded. "That is so awesome! Hey, could I ever star in one of your commercials?"

"Sure Pinkie, maybe in the future when all of this chaos goes away."

"Yay!" Pinkie said, jumping about ten feet into the air. And with her it was literally ten feet, that isn't a hyperbole for the sake of storytelling.

Pete was helping his mother unpack their clothes as he heard Pinkie continue her friendly interrogation of his father.

"That Pinkie Pie sure is energetic." Pete's mother said with a smile as she pulled one of her shirts out of the bag.

"Yeah, I know. But that's what makes her who she is." Pete chuckled, "and honestly I wouldn't want her to be any other way."

"You two are really good friends, aren't you?" Pete's mother asked.

Pete nodded, "Yeah, we are. Then again we sort of have to be," Pete grabbed a pair of jeans and threw them onto the bed he and Pinkie were using. "We are the same elements, and the only way for them to work effectively is to be unified."

Pete continued to unpack as he watched Pinkie bouncing around happily with his father.

"_I guess I can tell them about us tonight."_ Pete thought as he continued to unpack. _"It looks like it'll be fine."_

Once Pete finished unpacking and walked over to Pinkie Pie. His parents were both out of the room for a minute so he used the chance to break the news.

"So I'lm telling Mom and Dad about us tonight." Pete said.

Pinkie grinned, "Great! This is great, then we don't have to keep our relationship a secret!"

She hugged Pete and he returned it. "Yeah, I just hope my intuitions are correct and they accept it."

Pinkie Pie giggled and pulled back, "Oh Pete, your parents are very kind. I know that they'll love you no matter what and telling them this won't be a problem."

Pete nodded and stood back up, "Then it's settled."

**Police Station- Fluttershy's Cell**

Fluttershy had been awake for about an hour inside her cell. She was terrified by her surroundings; the damp, concrete walls, the large, metal bars that prevented her escape, and the sounds of James, the boy that she loved, screaming in agony from the mysterious torture that he was receiving.

"Oh, James, I'm sorry I caused you to get stuck in here." Fluttershy muttered to herself somberly as some tears fell. She pressed her face against the bars, her sadness grew as she heard James' cries of pain and agony that continued to reach her ears, made her cringe as she thought of all of the painful things that they could have been doing to him.

Suddenly a door opened and Fluttershy looked up to see two men walk over to the cell. One was Officer Cantor and the other was another police officer. Both had knowing and, borderline evil looks in their eyes as they approached the helpless yellow mare.

Officer Cantor smiled, "Fluttershy, we need to borrow you for a second."

They opened the cell and Fluttershy backed away nervously, looking from side to side as the two men approached her. She walked back until she was pressed against the wall. Officer Cantor laughed, "No more room to hide, eh?"

Fluttershy didn't look up at the face of the malicious police officer. She shut her eyes and looked away. She was so frightened that she didn't resist when the two officers grabbed her and started to pull her out of the cell as her hooves dug into the floor in her attempts to stay put.

**Interrogation Room**

After a couple of hours of pain at the hands of this sadistic, and apparently unicorn, officer, James was left slumped against the chair, blood trickling from his nose and his eyes barely open. His chest felt as if it was being stabbed by an invisible entity, and his head felt worse than it had after a heavy night of drinking. He could barely move a muscle, but with every ounce of strength that he had left, he lifted his head to see the officer talking to another man, this one with a black suit on.

He didn't know who he was, but he knew that he wasn't a good person.

The man walked over and smiled at James, "Hello there James, I'm sorry for any inconvenience that my late arrival may have caused you."

James would have given the man the finger if he could lift his hand, but that was impossible with his hand tied to his side and the feeling of complete exhaustion coursing throughout his body, including the muscles in his arms.

"My name is Obscure Darkness, and like many of the officers that work here, including my personal chief of police Officer Cantor and the other officers here, we are not as we appear."

James glared at the "man", who just walked over to James and squatted down to he could look at him eye-to-eye.

"You know I have orders from Discord to torture you until you spill what you know," Brett chuckled as he patted James' shoulder, "but we're running short on time, and I know it's going to take a lot more torture for you to start talking."

James didn't respond, he just kept staring at Brett with a stare that was filled with hatred.

"So I have decided to offer you an ultimatum, if it were." Brett stood back up and looked down at James with the upmost seriousness, "and you must chose one of the options I give you. Nothing else."

James kept glaring for a few more seconds before he managed to say in a raspy, tired voice, "What…what choice….do I have?"

Brett smiled, "Well the first choice is to tell me where your friends are right now." He walked over to James and continued around him, pacing in a circle that had James' as the epicenter. "And yes I promise not to harm, kill, maim or do anything to your friends if you tell me where they are." He raised his hand up, "I swear to your God."

James didn't change expression but he answered, "I'm an agnostic…I don't have a formal God."

"Then I swear to Celestia, how does that sound?" Brett asked. James, like he was doing before, did not respond with so much as a syllable. "Good? Good." Brett nodded before walking over to the door that led to the interrogation room and pressing a button, "Yes you can send her in now."

James looked at Brett with initial confusion before his mind began to piece together what was going to happen. His eyes went wide and he shook his head, "No…."

Brett just smiled as the door to the interrogation room opened and Officer Cantor walked in with another officer, and in-between both of them was Fluttershy, who was being dragged in by her back legs. She was crying silently and shaking like a leaf, the very sight of which made James' heart shatter, and his mentality snap. He started to lunge towards her; shouting and fuming in a rage he never thought he was capable of having.

"You bastards! Let her go!"

"Don't worry James," Brett smiled, "there's a very good chance she won't be hurt. But that's up to you and what you chose to do for me right now."

James shook his head, "No…you….you wouldn't…."

"If you tell me where your friends are, none of them, including Fluttershy here," he walked over to Futtershy and with a creepy gentleness. He slowly stroked her mane before he brought his hand across her tear-streaked face. She whimpered and turned away, her eyes closed and tears continuously flowed. Brett continued to make his ultimatum with James, ", will be harmed in any way."

He then turned to face James, "But if you keep playing the martyr and remain silent," suddenly Brett's hand turned into a hoof and was surrounded by the familiar-looking black aura. "I will kill her right here in front of you."

James shook his head, his eyes wide in horror and his body shaking. "No…please don't do this…torture me….k-kill me! Don't do anything to her, please!"

"That's not one of the options you have now Mr. Carson." Brett muttered coldly.

"Please don't."

"I don't have a choice," Brett said with a smile, "but you do. Tell me where your friends are."

James didn't know what to do, his body was shaking in fear and anxiety and he began to sweat. Brett gave a small nod, "As you wish."

He turned and proceeded towards Fluttershy, who was still trying to pull away, her eyes wide in fright and tears gushing down her face.

"No sir…p-please…" she whimpered as she kept trying to scoot further and further from Brett. But it was hopeless. Officer Cantor and the other man held her firm in place as Brett inched closer and closer to the petrified mare. James was torn; he knew that he was fucked either way, but he knew that he couldn't sit back and do nothing while Fluttershy was being murdered right in front of him.

Just before Brett reached out and touched Fluttershy's forehead with his hoof of death, James shouted out.

"Wait! Stop!" Brett stopped moving just mere centimeters from Fluttershy's head. Her eyes were closed until James spoke up. She opened one eye to look at her friend, who was reduced to a mass of sobs.

"I'll tell you." James muttered as the tears ran down his cheeks and landed on his blood-drenched shirt, "they're at the hotel off of 4-90, the…the Holiday Inn, they're there. Just don't hurt anyone...or anypony."

Brett smiled and slowly turned around. Fluttershy seemed to relax a bit, and looked at James with sad eyes, still glossy with tears, as she now saw James, the boy she loved, reduced to nothing more than a sobbing child.

Brett nodded, "Thank you for cooperating. Trust me, no harm will come to any of your friends of their famiies."

Brett turned and ordered Officer Cantor and the other officer to carry Fluttershy out of the room and back to her cell. She looked over towards James and saw that he was looking down, still crying.

Once outside, the door to the interrogation room shut behind her and she closed her eyes, _"James….poor James. What have we gotten ourselves into?"_

Meanwhile, back in the interrogation room, Brett slowly walked back over to James and lifted the boy's head so they were looking each other in the eye. James' eyes were red as tears continued to flow.

"I promised I wouldn't hurt your friends," Brett said, "but I didn't promise not to hurt you. You are about to feel pain that you've never felt before in your life. Maybe then you'll realize how futile your attempts at stopping us are."

James' eyes suddenly changed from sad to terrified as Brett pressed his hoof to James' skull. James screamed in agony as more pain than he felt in his entire life shot through him. He felt as though each individual muscle, each nerve was contracting and contorting in the most uncomfortable positions. Brett smiled as James' face scrunched and he screamed until he could no longer find the strength to do so.

**Yes, just so you know, the next chapter will be extremely dark. **

**Very dark, actually. **

**So don't say I didn't warn you.**

**Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter.**

**And, as always...**

**Go Giants! Go Rainbow Dash! (That one's for you ****C0DEW0LF lol glad you like my Giants messages)**


	15. Chapter 15

****Chapter 15- Tragedy and Redemption****

****BY FAR THE MOST DEPRESSING THING I'VE EVER WRITTEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. ****

****And I had to write college essays on my Ulcerative Colitis.****

****Wow, okay I really hope this chapter's sudden change in tone isn't TOO drastic, but just a reminder...VERY DARK.****

****I also cranked this out very quickly so let me know if there are any drastic errors.****

****Anyway, I hope you enjoy it for what it is, and please let me know what you think of it.****

****Thanks and, as usual, I own only my OC's.****

**Hotel- Ryan's Parents' Room- Late Afternoon/Evening**

Rainbow Dash sat on the floor in front of Ryan's parents after telling them that she needed to talk to them about something urgent. The two adults were both sitting on the edge of their bed, looking down at the little cyan pony that clearly had a lot on her mind. She was looking down at her hooves with a worried expression on her face, which didn't get by Ryan's mother.

"Rainbow Dash, what is it?" she asked, "you seem upset."

"It's just," she said quietly, "I have something to tell you, and I don't know how you're going to react to it."

She gulped and looked up at the two adults with pleading eyes, as if she was begging them to take whatever news she had well. She knew that if they didn't, she may ruin Ryan's relationship with his parents, and that thought made her petrified about telling them.

"You know you can tell us anything." Ryan's father said with a kind face. "We don't want you to worry about how we'll react, we'll be understanding, I promise."

"Yeah Rainbow Dash, tell us what's on your mind." Ryan's mother said with a smile of her own that gave Rainbow Dash some more comfort.

Rainbow Dash sighed and looked back down, "I hope you are...for Ryan's sake."

"What about Ryan?" Ryan mother asked as she leaned forward while still sitting on the edge of the bed. She had a look of great interest now, as any mother would when her son is involved in something.

"It's just…" Rainbow Dash closed her eyes before looking up at Ryan's parents, "…we like each other….more than just friends. We love each other and have been in a relationship for the past few days."

As soon as the words left her mouth, she looked up to see the stunned faces of both of Ryan's parents. Thinking that she had revealed too much to them and may have ruined Ryan's life with her confession, her eyes began to water and she fell to the ground crying. She buried her face into her forelegs and began to let out sniffles in-between her small sobs before muttering, "Please don't hate Ryan because of this, he was so worried about telling you. Please don't."

She cried a little more before she felt a hand on her back. She looked up to meet Ryan's mother's eyes.

"Rainbow Dash is that what this is all about?" she asked the pony.

Rainbow Dash nodded and wiped her face with her foreleg. "Uh-huh, Ryan wanted to wait, but I felt like it would be easier on him for me to tell you both. I…I hope I didn't ruin your relationship with Ryan by telling you."

Ryan's mother smiled and got down to Rainbow Dash's level. She wiped some of the tears off of her cyan-colored cheek. "Rainbow Dash you're such a sweet girl."

Rainbow Dash looked at her with confusion, "You…you aren't mad?"

"Well," Ryan's mom said, "it is a little strange, I admit. The idea of Ryan and you…romantically intimate when you're two different species, but I've always believed that as long as he found someone who would love him unconditionally, as long as he's happy, then that's good enough for me."

"R-really?" Rainbow Dash said as a smile slowly began to grow across her muzzle. Her eyes began to clear up from the cloudiness that her tears gave them.

Ryan's father nodded from where he was sitting, "Yes, although I wish we could have grandkids out of this somehow, and…that might be an issue." He said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Rainbow Dash giggled and then threw her forelegs around Ryan's mother and looked up at his father.

"Thank you guys for being understanding, Ryan's gonna be so relieved. I love you two."

"We love you too Dashie." Ryan's father said as he walked over and hugged the pony with his wife like they were all part of the same family.

**Street**

The night was silent outside of the city. The Milites Chaos was gathering downtown to prepare for a war, as Mayor Drocsid wanted them to. He knew that there was a SWAT team heading his way from outside of Wilmont, which mean that he didn't control them, and they were coming for him. So he waited in his office in City Hall, biding his time until they came for him.

Officer Cantor and other officers, after their part in mentally torturing Fluttershy by helping Brett threaten her life, something that automatically makes them worse than Hitler (seriously, if you threaten any of the mane six, especially Fluttershy, you must die a painful death), they were off to get Carl and the others and bring them into the station.

"Does Discord want us to off them?" the officer that was driving asked Cantor. This man was actually the second officer who had dragged Fluttershy into the room with Cantor back at the station during their interrogation of James.

"No, he wants them alive." Cantor muttered, "that way he can deal with them himself. Besides, he enjoys creating disharmony between others, even if it may be risky to his own rule. Why do you think Brett didn't just extract information from James like he did with Bright Illusion?"

The officer looked at Cantor in inquisition, "Yeah, why didn't he exactly?"

"Because he wants them to turn on each other." Cantor replied, "If he had killed James, they would have seen it as a tragedy, and James would have been a martyr. But now that James is the one who snitched on his friends, there will be many arguments and distrust between them while they are in the jail cell."

Cantor turned to the officer, half of his face appearing to be unicorn and the other half still human, as he smiled, "As long as chaos exists, we win. It's as simple as that. And in this world, chaos is impossible to extinguish."

He turned back to normal and looked out of the windshield as the officer that was driving nodded, "Yes, sir."

**Carl's House- Evening**

"Come on pick up your fucking phone." Ryan grumbled as he stood outside of Carl's burnt house. The entire neighborhood was destroyed; burned to the ground by the Milites Chaos. The ashes were still smoldering from the war waged on the middle-class neighborhood by the anarchist mob the night before.

Ryan had arrived to Carl's house to see if he was home, only to finds the house destroyed. He initially was scared until he realized that Ryan's cars were not present in the wreckage, so he thought that it was possible that they got away. Since then, he was trying to get in touch with hi on his cell.

Ryan was waiting for Carl to answer his phone, starting to get nervous as his attempts to call went unanswered.

Finally, he heard a click and a familiar voice on the other end.

"_Ryan?"_ Carl asked.

"Carl, where are you?"

_"I'm at a hotel, why?"_

"Because I went to go see you at your, and when I got here all I found was a pile of rubble."

"_What do you mean?"_ Carl asked.

"Dude, your house is burned to the ground."

There was a brief pause before he heard Carl shout, _"WHAT!"_

After un-plugging his ears from his friend's outburst, Ryan continued, "Yeah, every house is destroyed."

He looked around to see each and every single house decimated. Some families were still among the rubble, sifting through it to grab items that had survived the flames. Others simple sat on the curb and cried about losing everything. "Carl where did you go?"

"_We had to evacuate, Discord knows who were are and where we live, I guess that's why he destroyed our neighborhood."_

Ryan's eyes went wide, "What? Why the hell didn't you tell me? Were you going to just leave me to the dogs or something!"

"_No! Of course not!"_ he heard Carl plead, _"but you're not in your home so you're safe. They don't know what hotel you guys are staying at"_

Ryan let out a sigh of relief, "Okay, that's right. Sorry man I forgot. Now where are you?"

"_We're at…."_ There was a long pause before Ryan heard Carl finally utter two words that froze his heart, _"…oh no."_

"Oh no?" Ryan asked with a shaky voice, "Carl, what is it?"

"_I just remembered that I told Mr. Courite where you were staying before, which means that he knew and now Discord's men know. Ryan, they know where you are staying."_

Ryan stopped breathing. He felt like his heart was paralyzed; unmoving as thoughts of his parents and Rainbow Dash being in danger filled his mind. His heart began to beat fact and he felt like he was going to pass out.

"No…" Ryan muttered while shaking his head, "Carl…please tell me you didn't…"

"_Ryan I'm sorry I forgot to tell you."_

Ryan now knew he had to get back to Rainbow Dash and his parents to warn them.

"Carl I have to go." And with that, he hung up and ran back to the BMW. He got in and sped off back to the hotel, too worried to notice more of the sobbing families and dead bodies from the night before; as well as a strange lack of police cars. He turned out of the neighborhood, hitting a street-sigh in his haste, and continued down the lonely road back to the hotel as the sun began to set.

**Ryan's Hotel- WARNING- THE VERY DISTUBRING AND VIOLENT PART THAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.**

As the sun finally slipped beneath the horizon, the hotel workers began to clean up the lobby. They did, however, continue to place reservations for the coming weeks. A young check-in woman was at the main desk, clicking away at the computer while two older workers, a man and woman, were beside her, taking calls. Once done filling in a reservation for a couple that was coming to Wilmont for a funeral, the man hung up the phone and looked up. He turned his head so he was looking outside, when he saw what appeared to be a huge mass of people heading towards the entrance of the hotel, chanting some strange, Latin phrase.

_Resurgere in contereret,_

_Cadent de vastantium._

_Bellum aequalitas,_

_Bellum contra Class._

_Nocte nos Superius,_

_Nocte nos pugnare._

_In iuventus Valete,_

_Discordia est rex._

He slowly stepped out from behind the counter and went towards the door with a perplexed look on his face.

The young check-in woman looked up at him with confusion, "Daniel, what are you doing?"

"There's a group of people coming towards the entrance." He muttered, looking through the glass doors that led to the hotel lobby. He slowly walked towards it, passing a man in a business suit that was reading the newspaper, oblivious to Daniel walking by him.

As he got closer to the door, Daniel could see that the mass of people heading towards the hotel were a group of teens and young adults with guns and masks on. He instantly felt his blood run cold at the sight. His eyes went wide, "Dear God."

At that point, the leader of the group, who was Lawrence (of course), pointed his shotgun at Daniel and fired. A shell from his gun shattering through the two glass doors and hitting the innocent hotel worker in the head as blood sprayed the ground and wall that was around him. Daniel's eyes rolled back into his head and he fell to the ground in a pool of his own blood, mouth open and back to the lightly carpeted floor.

The young check-in girl gave a high-pitched scream as the older one's eyes went side in horror. The businessman quickly jumped from his seat, the newspaper that he had been reading fell to the ground as he looked down at the body. He didn't notice the group of kids enter the hotel until it was too late. He looked up to see Lance pointing a revolver at him and shooting him in the face. Now everyone else who was around at the time began to panic. Dining area workers, a janitor, and even a few guests who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Milites Chaos began to run throughout the ground floor of the hotel, shooting ay anyone who tried to resist their power or tried to run away.

"Stay on the ground level!" Lawrence shouted to his anarchist minions, "I don't want Ryan to know that we're here until I have my gun pointed directly at his smug, nerd-bag face."

Lawrence then walked over to the check-in counter to see the two women cowering in fear. Lawrence looked over to the younger woman and smiled, "You." Lawrence said as he motioned for her to come over to him, "can you come here for a second, I need your assistance."

The younger woman just stared stupidly until Lawrence became angry. "Hey! Am I talking to myself here? Get up!"

Getting the message the second time, the young woman quickly scrambled to her feet and jobbed over, her hands above her head as Lawrence kept his gun pointed at her. Lance had his revolver pointed at the older woman while Sean was keeping watch over Lawrence's back and pointing his gun around for his protection. As some man who was staying in the hotel ran by him to escape the carnage, Sean shot him without remorse. The young check-in woman cringed and began to cry at the carnage that she was seeing.

Lawrence snapped his fingers, "Hey! Pay attention, I don't have all night. Believe it or not, even chaos has a busy schedule to uphold."

The woman nodded and looked up into Lawrence's evil, cold eyes that showed no trace of the innocent, kind child that had been Ryan's best friend years ago. He was now pure evil.

"Wha…what do you want?"

"I need a room," Lawrence said, "where is the Davis family staying?"

The woman suddenly looked like she was going to cry, "Why…why do you…"

"It's none of your business, now answer my question," Lawrence hissed as he pressed the barrel of the gun into her cheek, "Where. Is. The. Davis. Family?"

The woman hesitantly began to log onto her computer and looked up the information for the mad gunman. After a few moments, she looked up at Lawrence, "Third floor, room 308 and 309."

Lawrence nodded and gave the woman a sadistic grin, "Thank you for your cooperation, you and your older lady friend over there; now may leave."

She nodded and ran off, the older check-in woman not too far behind. Lawrence smiled and started off, "Sean! Lance!"

His two minions followed. Soon another two anarchists joined them as they headed to the elevators. Gunshots were heard in every direction, as well as blood-curdling screams from poor victims and taunts from the Milites Chaos. Lawrence led the others to the elevators and pressed one of the down buttons. As they waited, Lance had the chance to take out a woman who was running towards the exit. As he did so, he laughed like the mental patient that he soon would be.

The door to the elevator opened and the five anarchists got in and headed to the third floor. As the doors shut and they began to re-load, Lance turned to Lawrence and smiled, "Yo man, this is just like Call of Duty."

Lawrence nodded and gave a small, dark chuckle that most dictators would fear, "Except _slightly_ more realistic."

Eventually, they reached the third floor and got off of the elevator. They slowly made their way down the hall, slowly passing by each room as they looked for the numbers 308 and 309.

Finally, they reached room 308. Lawrence knocked and waited for someone to answer.

No one did, as Ryan was still trying to get back in time, and Rainbow Dash was in the next room.

Speaking of Rainbow Dash, she and Ryan's parent heard the commotion coming from downstairs, but didn't know what it was.

"What in the hay is going on down there?" Rainbow Dash asked as she flew over to the window to look outside, but it was too dark to see. Also there was a part of the second-floor roof jetting out and blocking her view of the ground.

"What do you see Rainbow Dash?" Ryan's mother asked.

"I…I can't tell, it's too dark, and the roof is in the way." She answered

Just then, the door to their room was kicked in. Lawrence and the others stepped inside and he smiled at the frightened trio that was in the room.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Davis, long rime no see."

"L-Laurie?" Mrs. Davis asked in shock as Lawrence grinned. He pointed to Rainbow Dash and turned to Sean.

"Grab her Sean."

Sean walked over to her with Lance. Rainbow Dash, not willing to be taken without a fight, lunged at Sean and brought him down. Unfortunately, Lance grabbed her and slammed her into the wall, pinning her and preventing her movement. She struggled with all of her might, but it was no use. She was trapped. Lawrence smiled at the trapped pegasus and turned back to Ryan's parents.

"Get on your stomachs."

"Listen, Lawrence…" Ryan's father began before Lawrence snapped.

"GET ONTO YOUR STOMACHS! NOW!"

Not having to be told again, Ryan's parents both lay on the ground, stomach-down. Ryan's mother was shaking and his father put his hand onto her own in an attempt to calm her down.

Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, was trying to get free and save them. "Let go of me! Let them go you jerk!"

Lawrence laughed, "Jerk? Did she honestly just call me a jerk? Ha!" The others began to laugh as well as Lawrence slowly walked over to Rainbow Dash, leaving Ryan's parents under the gun of Lance and another one of his anarchist gang members. "Dashie, my pony, you are too innocent for this world. I have a gun in my hands and have murdered many innocent people in the past few days, and all you can call me is a "jerk"?"

Rainbow Dash was frozen, her eyes went wide as she heard the words escape his mouth. "You…you killed people?"

Lawrence smiled and gave the mare a nod. "That's right."

He then turned to Ryan's parents, "Where's your son?"

"You think we'd tell you?" Ryan's Dad hissed as his mom continued to silently cry into the carpet.

"I wish you would." Lawrence said almost tauntingly.

"What do you want him for?" Ryan's father growled.

"Nothing except pain." Lawrence grinned, "you rich fucks have been sucking us dry, and now, after years of fucking over the little guy, you're reaping the _fruit_ of your labor."

"Please don't hurt us." Ryan's mother pleaded through her sobs. "Please don't hurt Ryan either."

Lawrence nodded, "Don't worry, I won't hurt you." He stood up and walked away and stared down at Rainbow Dash, who was looking up at him with pure fear and anger. She kept trying to get free from between the wall and Lance.

Lawrence chuckled, "But Sean and Mike will."

And with that, Rainbow Dash watched in horror as Sean and Mike, the other anarchist who had his gun pointed at Ryan's mother, pulled the triggers of their guns, sending one bullet into each of Ryan's parents' heads.

Rainbow Dash's face fell in shock and her body froze in place. Her lip quivered and tears began to forming her red eyes, "No….no…"

Lawrence chuckled, "Aw, the little pony from the Utopian society can't handle a little blood, huh? What's the worst that's happened in your world? A paper-cut? "

Rainbow Dash couldn't even answer. She just stared at the two corpses that had moments before been Ryan's parents, as blood began to surround them, absorbing into the carpet. She shook her head.

"No, nopony could be this cruel. There's no way this is happening." She muttered in shock. She looked back up at Lawrence, "Why…how could you do something like this?" she asked as she began to cry. Lawrence just kept smiling, enjoying the emotional torment he was causing her to have

"Because this is our reality, and I'm a heartless son of a this world has any chance to advance and improve, it must burn." He growled before he flashed his typical, evil smile at Rainbow Dash, "and we will get you to tell us where Ryan is, but first I think it's only fair that you feel my wrath for the embarrassment that you caused me at the mall, when you made me look like an idiot."

Rainbow Dash was then grabbed by Lance and another one of the anarchists, who proceeded to drag her out of the room, followed by everyone else; Ryan's parents remained laying on the ground in their own blood. Rainbow Dash was pulling, trying to free herself from these men's hold of her, but she couldn't. She was stuck and she could only cry more as she thought about Ryan, and how she let him down by not being able to help his parents.

And how she felt like she would never see him again.

**Pete's Room- Night**

Pete and Pinkie Pie were both sitting in front of Pete's parents as they prepared to tell them how they felt about each other. Pete was a little nervous, but felt confident that they'd accept it, even if they were a little freaked out initially, simply because they seemed to love Pinkie so much.

"What's up Pete?" Pete's father asked with his usual kind face.

Pete turned to Pinkie, who was grinning at him, "Go on Pete; tell them."

Pete turned back to his parents and let out a deep sigh. He closed his eyes. "Mom, Dad, you two like Pinkie Pie right?"

"We adore her son." Pete's mother said happily.

"Yeah she's like a bowl of sunshine and energy." His father added.

"Wow, thanks Pete's parents!" Pinkie said with a grin before turning back to Pete, raising her eyebrows as if to persuade him to _"go on"_.

Pete nodded, "Good to hear, because I wanted to tell you that…." He looked over at Pinkie. She was not grinning so much anymore as much as she was giving him an encouraging smile before she placed her hoof onto his shoulder and nodded to relax him.

"…we're in love with each other." Pete said with a smile. He turned back to his parents

What he saw next, he didn't expect.

His father seemed to be shocked, as well as a little angry. His mother, meanwhile, just looked downright confused, like she was in a state of disbelief for what her son just told her.

"What do you mean, _love_?" Pete's father asked, hissing the last word out with anger.

Pete was frozen in fear as he looked into his father's eyes.

Unfortunately, Pinkie seemed oblivious to his parent's reactions and responded for him, "He means, that we're a couple and we love each other very much, don't we Petey?" She said as she pulled Pete closer to her for a hug and a quick peck on the cheek.

Pete was turning red in embarrassment, and his body was shaking as he saw what his parents' expressions became in the next moment.

His mother began to shake her head like she was in denial while his father's face showed pure rage. His face beet red and eyes full of malice for his son's words.

"You…you love…you're in love with a _pony_?" his mother asked.

Now Pinkie noticed his rage and she expression of joy fell and was replaced by worry. "Dad she's not…"

"You're in love with an ANIMAL!" his father shouted. "A FUCKING ANIMAL!"

"Dad she's not an animal, she's…." Pete tried to think of something to say, but stopped when he saw his mother burst into tears in front of him.

"Pete, why are you telling us this," she asked, "wasn't it enough for us to worry about your colitis? Now we have to worry about your mental health as well?"

Pete felt like he was going to faint. He could feel his stomach churning with shame as he saw his mother become reduced to a blithering mess right in front of him. He was petrified as he watched his mother fell into his father's shoulder and she continued to cry more.

Pete's father scowled and pointed to the door and, in a voice Pete had never heard his father used, growled, "Get out now."

"But Dad…"

"Don't call me Dad!" He hissed, "You're no longer my son, you're nobody to me! Now get out!"

Pete felt his heart stop, his eyes felt like torrents of water were about to pour out of them, much like when Pinkie Pie cried in the second part of the first episode. His parents, the only ones who were there for him throughout his life, the only ones who supported him when he was sick, had just disowned him because of his confession. He never felt like he wanted to die more than he did at that moment. He wanted to jump out of the window and hit the ground just so he could die and get rid of the pain that his parents were causing him. Pinkie looked at Pete with sorrow.

"Pete…" she whispered before he jumped up off of the bed and ran out of the hotel room, sobbing like he never had in his life. Pinkie wasted no time in following him, her own heart breaking as she heard Pete's father shout, "AND DON'T EVER COME BACK YOU SICKO."

Pinkie kept running as Pete sprinted off towards the stairs.

The door to Louis' and Rarity' room opened, both of them laughing happily as they saw Pinkie run by them.

"Pinkie where are you going?" Rarity asked as she suddenly noticed Pete pushing the door to the stairs open. "And what's wrong with Pete?"

"Sorry, I can't talk…Pete!" Pinkie shouted as she ran and also went through the door to the staircase.

"What the hell was that all about?" Louis asked scratching the back of his head.

"With Pinkie, I think that it's best not to ask." Rarity said before they headed to Carl's room.

Outside, Pete ran out of the hotel into the night with Pinkie right on his heels.

They didn't notice as a long line of police cruiser pulled up to the hotel. Officer Cantor stepped out of the head car followed by many other officers, that simultaneously stepped out of their cruisers. They all walked into the hotel and went to the check-in desk. After asking where Carl and the others were, using his status as a police officer to his advantage, they were told the room numbers and Cantor and the others went off.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Louis and Rarity were inside Carl's room. They had told the others that they had "made up" from their argument and Rarity had forgiven Louis for his "boorish behavior", as she called it. After the heard this news from the two, Carl and Twilight went over to look at the green box to see if it had opened since they had made up. Surprisingly, they had noticed that Rarity's cutie mark was glowing, but only a little. They also noticed Fluttershy's cutie mark, which had been slightly darker when they first examined it, was now glowing as much as the others. In fact, all of the cutie marks were glowing much brighter than they had when Carl first got it in his dream, even if Rarity's was slightly duller.

"Why is my cutie mark darker?" Rarity asked as if she were insulted.

"Beats me." Twilight added, "but it seems like there's something missing between you two that the rest of us have."

"Well that's not degrading in the least." Louis muttered.

"What are you all going on about?" Spike asked as he sat up on the bed with Anna and Lisa. The three of them had been watching television for the past few hours as, like with Ryan and Rainbow Dash, they soon realized that there was very little to do in a hotel.

"Nothing Spike." Twilight muttered.

"Well it sounds like…." Spike said before he suddenly stopped. But he didn't just stop talking; he stopped in a way that was almost like he was frozen. They all turned to see that the baby dragon was surrounded in a grey aura, unmoving from his previous position or expression of being in the middle of speaking. He _was_ frozen.

"Spike?" Twilight asked in shock.

It was at this point too that Carl noticed Anna and Lisa surrounded by the same aura, frozen in their positions. Anna was lying motionlessly on the bed and Lisa was sitting up, both of them staring at the television.

"What in Celestia's name happened to them?" Rarity asked in horror, her eyes widening at the sight. Carl quickly turned and ran to the bathroom where his mother was brushing her teeth.

"Mom!" Carl shouted. He pushed the door to the bathroom open and saw his mother in the same predicament as Spike and his sisters. Frozen in a position where the toothbrush was in her mouth, her eyes fixed on her reflection. She wasn't moving in the slightest, even her chest wasn't moving, showing that it even halted her breathing.

"No! What the hell is going on?" Carl asked in a shaky, fear-filed voice as the door to the room burst open and police officer swarmed inside, tackling Louis, Carl, Twilight and Rarity to the ground.

Carl tried to push the officer off of him, but he was too strong. He turned to see Twilight's horn glowing as she shot a beam of energy at one of the men, sending him flying into the hallway, taking out another two who were behind him.

"Grab her, she has magic!" shouted one of the officers as Twilight was suddenly buried under a pile of about three to four police officers.

"Twilight!" Carl shouted as he heard her screaming and shouting for the men to get off of her.

"Get off of me!"

Louis was trying his best to pull all of the officers off of Rarity, and he did quite an impressive job for a few moments before one of the officers pressed their hand, which was now a hoof, to his head and sent a painful jolt through his brain. He collapsed, unconscious, right in front of Rarity.

"Louis!" she gasped before looking up at the officer, "What have you brutes done to him?"

One of he officers slapped Rarity across the face, making her look up into his face in shock, tears forming in her eyes.

Carl kept trying to get a view of Twilight, but just when he caught a glimpse of purple, he saw two legs in blue pants step in front of him. He looked up to see Officer Cantor staring him down, his eyes malicious and a sly smile on his face.

"What…are you…doing…."

"Taking you downtown." He muttered before he got down and pressed his hoof into Carl's head. Carl felt a sharp jolt of pain before blackness surrounded him, and the sounds of Twilight's screams became more and more distant until he completely succumbed to unconsciousness.

**Ryan's Hotel Room**

As soon as Ryan walked into the hotel and saw the carnage left from the Milites Chaos, his heart stopped beating. He slowly walked over the body of Daniel the hotel worker, and then over the body of the businessman, whose newspaper was beside him, absorbing some of the blood from his body.

Ryan then realized he couldn't afford to slow down, as he had to get to his parents and Rainbow Dash, so he sprinted to the stairs and bolted up until he reached the third floor. Once there, he ran down the hallway until he reached his room, and his parents' room. He noticed both doors were open and he pushed into his room, "Dashie!" he shouted, but nopony answered.

He quickly searched his room and found no sign of his mare-friend. He then panicked and ran next-door to his parents' room. He kicked the door completely open and froze at what he saw.

Both of his parents lying on the carpet in their blood, cold and dead; he couldn't believe it, he didn't _want_ to believe it. The sight of his loving, caring parents, who were his best friends before Rainbow Dash came into his life, were now dead. He slowly walked over, shaking his head as he began to cry. One over the bodies, he stood above them for a few moments before he fell to his knees and wept, pressing his face into his hands.

"No…no please God no."

He wasn't there for them. He wasn't there to protect them. In his opinion, he was no longer loyal to those he loved; he was pathetic. He kept crying, thinking about his parents and how they had been murdered for no reason other than the fact that they were his parents. And Rainbow Dash, he didn't know where she even was, and could only imagine the horrors that she was enduring at the moment. He raised his head from his hands and saw a cyan feather lying on the ground to his side. He reached out and picked it up and held it in-between his thumb and pointer finger. He felt more and more tears flow as he looked at Rainbow Dash's feather.

"Mom…Dad…Dashie…I'm so sorry. I failed all of you." He whispered, "I'm so sorry."

He wept, clutching the feather to his chest as he did so, until he heard a female voice speak to him.

"_Ryan you mustn't dwell on this, Rainbow Dash needs you."_

Ryan slowed his crying, "Who…who are you…?"

"_That is not important,"_ the voice said, _"the important thing is that you must rescue Rainbow Dash."_

"How?" Ryan asked as he wiped some of his tears away. "How can I save her when I couldn't even save my parents. I don't even know where she is."

"_Follow your heart, and you will find her."_

Ryan shook his head, "No…no I…I can't. I'm too weak."

"_You are not too weak, Ryan." Said the voice, "you just have to believe in yourself; will yourself to find her."_

Ryan suddenly recognized the voice, "Wait, you're Princess Celestia, aren't you?"

"_Yes, I am. Listen to me Ryan; you are loyal, even if you don't believe you are. You can get to her and save her in time."_ She said with haste, _"Just like you've needed to see Rainbow Dash on the show after being bullied for comfort, she needs you now. You need to save her and provide her with the comfort and protection that she needs"_

Ryan nodded, as he knew that she was right. He had to find her and save her, the girl…mare…that had been supportive of him. The one who had been there to help him and hold him when he needed to feel better, she was everything to him now. In his mind, he had nothing else to live for other than to save her, to protect her, to love her more than anyone could love someone else. He knew at that moment he did have loyalty in him, because he knew that he would die for her if he needed to.

He closed his eyes and began to think, _"I love you Rainbow Dash, where are you. I need to find you, please let me get to you."_

"Help!" he suddenly heard Rainbow Dash shout in his head. Suddenly the image of Rainbow Dash being dragged through the streets by the anarchists, led by Lawrence, to a remote part of the city flashed into his mind. He watched as the men pinned her to the ground, laughing at her helplessness. Their laughs made Ryan burn up on the inside in a rage.

He listen to her sobs as Lawrence bent over and grabbed a rock off of the ground. He slowly walked over to her, "You know, I've thought about this long and hard about this moment. Once question kept filling my mind. Do I go about this in my own personal, unique way? Or do I re-create "Cupcakes"?"

Rainbow Dash's face was showing terrible fear, which made Ryan's heart break as he saw it. His heart began to feel warm as a blue aura began to surround him.

"_Let her go."_ He thought angrily as he didn't take his mental image off of her rose-colored eyes that still had the innocence that they always had, even after everything that she had seen.

"So I've decided to mix it up." Lawrence said as he walked over to Rainbow Dash and raised the rock above her as one of the men pinned her wing to the ground. "And bring in my own original plan by breaking your spirit first."

He brought the rock down onto the wing-bone with all of the force that he could muster.

Rainbow Dash screamed like she never had before as pain shot from her wing up into her torso. She began to cry, "Please….stop….no more."

Lawrence didn't care, and he broke her other wing, another scream erupted from her as the fucker laughed.

Now Ryan was angry. Angrier than he ever had been in his life, they had killed his parents and were now torturing the one he loved. His body was engulfed in a blue aura, his eyes opened to reveal that they were glowing a cyan color to match the light around him. His hands were balled up into a fist so hard that his nails pierced the skin and blood dripped onto the carpet of the room.

The light grew brighter and brighter until, finally, Ryan disappeared into a portal, teleporting away from the hotel room in a manner resembling Twilight's teleportation method.

**Street- Night**

Rainbow Dash was now crying. She was alone, being tortured by these men after she failed to rescue Ryan's parents from death. Her beautiful, powerful wings that were so much a part of her identity were now disfigured and swollen after being shattered by the rock.

She looked up to see Lawrence laughing. He was humming "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd due to the irony of the song given the situation. There was no good left in him; he was cold on the inside, soul-less. It was almost as if the soul of the young boy that he had once been was gone forever, never to return, dead with his innocent, childhood self.

"_I can't believe this is how it's going to end."_ She thought sadly before closing her eyes as a tear fell to the street, _"Ryan I'm so sorry for not saving your parents. Please learn to believe in yourself and don't blame yourself for this, please."_

"Boss! I think we should start with her abdomen now." Sean sneered as he looked up at Lawrence, who was twirling his switchblade in his hand with a smile. He looked at Rainbow Dash with a smile.

"Rainbow Dash, you are about to go through a scenario played out in one of the most hated fan-fictions on the Internet." Lawrence slowly began to walk over to her, still humming the song.

(Note, I did not read cupcakes, but I have an idea on what it is about. And I will never read it, especially since Rainbow Dash is my favorite character and the thought of…_that_…happening to her would give me nightmares and break my heart)

Rainbow Dash shook her head, "Please don't do this, I…I'm sorry I made you…."

"Too late for apologies." Lawrence muttered as he got down onto his knees and brought the knife to her gut. "Good-bye Rainbow Dash." He raised the knife up into the air, ready to bring it down into her.

Rainbow Dash gulped and closed her eyes, _"Good by everypony…good bye Ryan, I love you."_

Lawrence smiled as brought the knife down, or at least he meant to.

He kept trying to move his arm, but for some reason it wasn't moving. He kept pulling and pulling, but nothing was happening. He felt like some force was holding him back. He looked up to see a blue aura surrounding his arm. Just then, he lifted off of the ground and was airborne, surrounded by a cyan aura.

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes as she heard the gasps and swearing and the "what the…" comments coming from the anarchists around her. She looked to see Lawrence levitating in front of her, arm held up in the same motion that it had been before he tried to bring the knife down onto her.

Lawrence slowly rotated around so his back was to Rainbow Dash. He turned until he was facing the source of the restraint.

There, standing behind him, with his eyes completely engulfed in cyan light, was Ryan. His hands were surrounded in his cyan aura, and his face was furious, even if his eyes were hidden. Lawrence's face suddenly lit up in fear at what he saw in front of him. The knife fell to the ground as he stared in shock as the boy who never fought back against him was holding him in the air.

Ryan lost all patience with this bastard.

"No one hurts my little Dashie you sick fucker." He muttered before he reached back with his arm that was not mentally holding Lawrence in the air and punched across his body.

Cyan aura slammed into Lawrence's back, causing the teen to scream as he felt an immense pain shoot through his lower back before Ryan pushed him and he flew about forty feet back before he landed on the pavement with a loud "thud".

Ryan was just getting started, and Rainbow Dash was in for quite a show.

Mike reached for his revolver and pointed it at Ryan. Ryan saw this and with his aura, as he stood about ten feet away from Mike, he broke his arm that held the gun almost in half. Hell, the ulna and radius even managed to make an appearance through the skin. The gun fell to the ground and Mile screamed bloody murder before Ryan threw him into Lance, knocking him to the ground. He then lifted them both up and slammed them into the pavement, knocking them out.

He then used his powers to levitate everyone else, including Sean, and lift them into the air. Rainbow Dash was shocked at what she was witnessing, as the five other teens were floating above her, screaming and flailing around. Before any of them could get their guns, Ryan pushed them off, and they flew into the night before landing on the street, also knocked out. The glow then left Ryan's body and as soon as his eyes returned to normal, he collapsed onto his knees in exhaustion as the power left his body.

"Ryan!" Rainbow Dash shouted before she ran over to his side. "Ryan! Oh no, Ryan!"

She reached him and saw that he was looking down, body shaking and tears falling.

"Ryan?" Rainbow Dash whispered with a very concerned look in her eyes.

Ryan looked at Rainbow Dash with his own tear-filled eyes. After his aura-induced rage, all of the bad things that have happened to him in the past few hours filled his mind in a torrent and brought him back to his sadness and feeling of despair. Tears from his parents' dying, tears from almost losing her, so many that he couldn't hold back anymore as he flung himself into Rainbow Dash and crying onto her shoulder.

"I'm…sorry…I wasn't…there for you…or my parents." He managed to get out through his sobs, "I'm sorry."

Rainbow Dash began to stroke his back, "Shhh, Ryan it's okay. I'll be okay; I'm here for you."

"I'm so sorry Dashie, I…I let them hurt your wings and…and almost kill you."

"But the didn't, you saved me Ryan." She said sadly.

Ryan hugged Rainbow Dash with all of his might and continued to cry.

"I love you Ryan" she whispered to him, as she, too, began to cry. "And I'm sorry I couldn't save your parents."

"Don't blame yourself Dashie, please." Ryan whispered, "Nothing is your fault."

"Nothing is your fault either."

And at that moment, both of them began to cry, Ryan more so as Rainbow Dash tried her best to be the supportive and stronger one out of the two. But in the end, they were both there in need of the other's support, and both provided support for the other.

They were equals.

**I don't drink, but after writing this I think I might re-consider my moral decision.**

**I also think I must start writing other MLP fanfics not related to Our World X Equestria crossover for something a little more lighthearted as opposed to darker fan-fics (think my own episodes for the show). That may be down the line a bit, but just a heads up.**

**And Ryan is not done with Lawrence, that little punk gets one more scene coming up. **

**Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as you could without becoming depressed. Please let me know what you thought about it. Thanks.**

**Now, if you excuse me, I need to go look at funny pony pictures so make myself feel better after writing this.**

**And, as usual..."GO GIANTs, GO RAINBOW DASH!" (To Grim Reaper: if RD played on the G-Men, she, Cruz and Nicks would become the most terrifying trio of receivers in the NFL. Yes, even though she has hooves, she'd still own everyone else.)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16- Discordia et Rex**

**Okay, here is a slightly less depressing chapter.**

**And, like I said, if this were broken up into a trilogy, I'd almost be done with the second installment at this point. **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and I own nothing except my OCs.**

**Street- Night**

Pete was still sprinting way from the hotel after he ran out of the hotel and ventured through the woods for about ten minutes before coming into the center of a town, right on the side of 4th street, standing on some grass that was beside the sidewalk. He was now going at a walk, but it was more of a "fast walk". He kept going as tears continued to flow from his blood-shot eyes, his hands digging deep into his pockets as his eyes stared down at the grass under his feet. He never felt so alone, so secluded from the rest of the world, up to that moment. He felt this way, that is, until he heard a familiar voice shout out to him.

"Pete!" Pete turned to see Pinkie as she trotted quickly. "Pete; wait up!"

Pete stopped walking and stood in the middle of the road, looking back at the pink mare. Pinkie, meanwhile, had trotted over to him to get a better look at his face. When she reached him, she closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh in exhaustion.

"You know how fast you are?" Pinkie asked with an exhausted sigh, "I could barely keep up with you."

She stopped directly under Pete's eyes so that she got a good look at how miserable his eyes looked. They were still open, but they didn't seem to blink at all. They were also glossy from the tears that gushed from his eyes. He didn't answer Pinkie; he just stared down at her worried face. Every now and then a car would pass, but they didn't seem to notice the depressed boy and cartoon pony on the side of the road.

"Petey come on don't be upset." Pinkie said in her best attempt to sound reassuring, "I know your parents kicked you out, and you're upset about it. But everything will be okay."

Pete shook his head, "That's not it Pinkie." He muttered in his choked-up voice, "it isn't the fact that they disowned me, it's that I can't believe they did so. They were the only ones by my side when I was sick, they supported me throughout my recovery and would always be there to talk to when no one else listened."

Pinkie sat down on the street as her eyes went wide listening to Pete continue to talk, "and now I'm not even their son anymore I'm….I'm a freak."

Pete slowly sat himself down on the grassy ground and tucked his knees up to his chest before he cried some more. He never felt like he was more alone than he was at that moment. It was like he was in a void, floating endlessly without purpose, alone and worthless. If his parents rejected him, who would be there for him?

Pinkie Pie put her hoof onto Pete's back and patted it, trying to calm him down a bit before she began to speak. "You still have me, Pete."

Pete looked up at Pinkie Pie's face, the face that he could always count on to make him laugh, to make him feel better with her randomness when he felt the most depressed and alone. Now here she was again, standing beside him with a caring look, trying to cheer him up. But it didn't work well, as Pete didn't feel much better even as he looked into her friendly face. He was happy that she was there for him, but it wasn't like he just got beat up or made fun of, where some reassurance would make the pain disappear. His parents had disowned him, and he knew that nothing could help him get over that simply fact at the moment, if he could ever get over it.

"I guess I'd better get someone to pick us up." he muttered as he picked his phone up and dialed Carl's number. He kept sitting on the grass as he listened to the ringing on the other line, signaling that Carl hasn't answered yet. When no body picked up the phone, Pete sighed and tried Louis's number.

As the case with Carl's phone, nobody answered when Pete called Louis.

"That's weird." Pete muttered as he hung up the phone when Louis' answering machine came on.

"What is it?" Pinkie asked as she cocked her head in adorable confusion.

"Carl and Louis aren't answering their phones." Pete muttered with a somewhat confused look of his own.

"Oh, well maybe they're busy coming up with a plan to beat Discord, or maybe their phone isn't around them so they don't know that you're calling." Pinkie said with a small smile trying to reassure Pete.

"No," Pete muttered, "I'm…I'm not sure why they aren't answering. A teen's phone is always attached to their hip; they have to have their phones with them. Hang on let me try Alex."

**Alex's Motel Room**

Alex was in the bathroom washing his face, as he got ready for bed. He was wearing black sweatpants and a plain, white t-shirt. He still had his mother on his mind, but Applejack did succeed in taking his mind off of it enough so that he wasn't completely in a depressed mood. Speaking of Applejack, she was on Alex's computer after he had decided to pull up the Applejack fan-page on Facebook for her to look at. It was one of the role-playing pages, so the person posting as Applejack was…well, posting like Applejack, accent and all. She did manage to scroll down the page using her hoof over the touch-pad mouse on the keyboard. And with each post that showed an imposter typing in Applejack's accent, her face turned more and more into a frown as she began to get aggravated.

"Ya know ah feel like ah should be insulted about this." Applejack said with an irritated tone to Alex as he finished drying his face off in the bathroom.

"Really?" Alex took the towel away from his face and turned to Applejack, "And why would that be?" he asked as he hung the towel back on the small rack that was on the wall beside the sink. He walked out of the bathroom and turned the light off.

"They're postin' as me without mah permission!" she scowled, "Not ta mention when ah write, I don't write in mah accent. That's insultin' ta see how they do that. Just because ah speak differently doesn't mean mah spellin' is any different."

"It's just for fun," Alex said, "besides, before you got here it was closest I could get to hearing you talk outside of the show. So don't knock it too hard, okay?"

Alex's phone began to ring after Alex finished his statement. He answered his phone. "Hello? This is the southern motel how may ah help y'all?" Alex said jokingly as he smiled at Applejack, who was stifling her laughter with hr hooves at his accent.

"_Alex?"_

"Pete? Hey man, what's up?"

"_Can you come pick me up please? I'm on 4__th__ Street with Pinkie. I tried calling Carl and Louis, but they aren't picking up their phones for some reason."_

"Oh…okay sure." Alex said as Applejack, having completed her laughing spree, suddenly looked concerned.

"Alex, is somethin' wrong?" she asked as Alex hung up.

"Not sure. Pete wants me to go pick him up." Alex said, "and he seemed pretty upset."

**Hospital Room**

The lights were dimly lit as Lawrence slowly began to come to. He didn't initially remember what had happened to him only about an hour before, but he was preoccupied with the confusion the he had about the feeling of someone pressing something onto his mouth. As his vision began to clear, he tried to rub his eyes only to realize that his hands were restrained. He suddenly became scared and, once he fully came to, his heart almost stopped in fright as all of the memories from a little while ago filled his mind.

Standing in front of him, wearing a pair of sunglasses and an apparently unemotional face was Ryan. He was towering above Lawrence and, thought his eyes were hidden behind the shades, he was undeniably pissed off at Lawrence for what he did to his parents, and what he tried to do to Rainbow Dash, and Lawrence knew this.

Lawrence began to struggle and scream, only to realize that he couldn't as he had a piece of duct-tape plastered onto his lips, so what when he tried to scream, he only emitted quiet, muffled whimpers and screams that even someone with the best hearing wouldn't notice from outside of the room.

Ryan just kept staring Lawrence down, his eyes hidden behind the shades; giving him an air of being almost inhuman to the helpless Lawrence, who just stared up at his victim with fear-filled eyes and a rising level of terror in his heart.

"Go ahead; continue to scream." Ryan hissed, "the doctors won't hear you, and even if they do they won't come."

Ryan took a step back and turned around before heading over to the window and looked outside at the night, which was dark except for the distant glow of another fire started by the Milites Chaos in some neighborhood or in the city, it was hard to tell in the darkness of the night.

"The funny thing about killing my father is that he was a doctor," Ryan muttered, "and doctors are very close to each other. They aren't too happy about you killing one of their own. I could kill you right now and they would say that your death was a result of the injuries that you sustained from our little "encounter", and not from me murdering you right here."

Ryan turned back to Lawrence, who had started to scream more and more, his face turning red as he strained. As before, the tape that was stuck onto his mouth muffled Lawrence's yells. The bed rocked as his torso and arms flailed around while his screams continued.

"So the tape on your mouth is more for the other patients' sake rather than the doctors'," Ryan muttered, "after all this is a hospital, and sick people need their rest if they hope to make s full recovery."

Ryan turned to Lawrence with clear anger in his face, even if it was disguised by the sunglasses, "And now you're getting what you deserve. I used to believe that deep down inside of you, the young boy that I used to be best friends with, the one who eventually destroyed my faith in loyalty until Dashie came into my life, still existed, waiting to be freed from the prison that you created from your hate and envy of my parents."

Ryan slowly walked over so he was standing right in front of Lawrence's bed, his face still seemed stoic, but it clearly had a hint of sadness to it, as if he was holding back and slightly hiding his feelings from the scared Lawrence.

"So you became my bully, hell bent on ruining my life if it was the last thing you did. You went so far as to kill my parents, and threaten the one I love with torture and death; yet you look at me as if you expect mercy." Ryan shook his head, "No, no I really don't want to show you mercy."

Slowly, Ryan' hands reached into his pocket, which Lawrence noticed and suddenly looked down at Ryan's hand, his eyes now even wider as he began to shake in fear as the possibilities of what he was pulling out of his pocket fluttered into his head.

"It was disgusting enough that you killed my parents, who were two of the nicest people ever," Ryan said as he let out a small sniffle, "and two of the most loving parents anyone could ask for."

He then pulled his hand up and revealed that he had Lawrence's switchblade, which he had picked up off of the street after beating the shit out of him and the other anarchists. Lawrence began to shake his head fervently and squirmed around, screaming under the tape and pulling back as if to get as far away from Ryan as he could, while still laying in the bed.

"But you actually had the gall, the _psychotic_ desire to try to torture and kill an innocent pony. A mare that is nicer, purer, and more loyal than all of humanity combined. A mare…." Ryan looked down and seemed to be silently crying before he continued, "…a mare that I love with all of my heart and soul for the beautiful, sweet girl that she is. She would never hurt a fly unless it threatened her friend. And _you_ wanted to kill her, you sick fuck."

Ryan slowly began to walk over and held the blade close to Lawrence's face, pressing it against his cheek Lawrence's eyes were pleading for mercy, tears flowing down his cheeks as he looked up at Ryan with desperation.

"You feel that blade against the cheek?" Ryan asked. "And you feel the restraints on your hands? Now you know how Dashie felt. You know how scared she was as you and your anarchist cronies shattered her wings, and then told her that you were going to cut her up like she was in "cupcakes"."

He slowly pulled the blade away from Lawrence's cheek and brought it down over his body, going lower and lower; Lawrence sweating in fear as to where this was going. Finally, Ryan stopped the blade above Lawrence's right thigh.

"I won't kill you Lawrence," Ryan muttered, "That would teach you nothing. So I've decided to take another route, the route of an _eye_ for an _eye_. Or in this case, a _wing_ for a _leg_."

And with that, Ryan raised his arm and plunged the knife into Lawrence's thigh. The anarchist teen screamed out like he never had before, writhing in pain until he realized….there was none.

Lawrence stopped screaming and looked at Ryan with eyes that now showed a mix of horror and confusion. Ryan looked up and into Lawrence's eyes and asked with fake confusion, "You didn't feel that?" Lawrence's eyes were still confused as Ryan shrugged, "Well then, let's try the other leg."

He brought the knife down into Lawrence's other thigh and, this time, Lawrence didn't scream at all. He just stared in awe and horror at Ryan, not feeling anything. He then realized that he didn't just feel anything from the stabbing, but he couldn't feel anything below the waist.

Ryan looked over at Lawrence's face, frozen in fear. "It really is poetic justice, you know. You took away Dashie's flying by breaking her wings, so I took your ability to walk. Fortunately for her, her broken wings will heal. But for you," Ryan threw the switchblade to the ground and walked over to Lawrence's side and leaned over his terrified face, "Let's just say that I'd get used to sitting on your fat ass, because you're going to be doing that the rest of your pathetic excuse of a life, like the welfare whore that you'll be." Ryan leaned closer, "Look into my eyes."

Slowly Ryan raised his hand and removed his glasses so his tear-filled eyes that were both sad and furious, but mostly sad and full of pain. He didn't want Lawrence to see his sad eyes until this moment, when he had officially intimidated him; "This is the result of everything you've done to me over the past few years. I hope you see in my eyes the pain you've caused," Ryan muttered as tears continued to flow, landing on Lawrence's chest, "and realize that I should have killed you for everything you've done. You've tried to take away my will to live, and to your credit, you almost succeeded."

He then looked down and sniffled a bit as the tears began to flow now, "But instead of breaking me, you've…. you've made me more determined to defeat Discord. I have nothing left to live for but Dashie and I want you to know that that's enough for me. You tried everything to ruin my life," Ryan looked back at Lawrence's paralyzed legs; "Just see this as returning the favor."

With that, Ryan stood back up and turned to leave. Just before he walked out of the room, he stopped and turned to Lawrence, "I am sorry that I paralyzed you. But I'm not sorry for doing it to protect Dashie."

With that, Ryan left the shaking Lawrence to himself. His face covered in dried streaks of tears and his eyes watery and frozen in shock, fear, and misery.

Outside of his room, Ryan slowly walked down the hall to leave the hospital, his eyes red with tears and his body shaking. He felt guilty that he paralyzed Lawrence, but knew that he deserved it for what he did to Rainbow Dash. Ryan let the sunglasses drop to the floor of the hallway as he slowly made his way to another room, where another doctor was currently wrapping Rainbow Dash's wings in white bandages.

He got to the room and looked as the doctor finished wrapping Rainbow Dash up. The doctor turned to Ryan, "Ryan are you done with Lawrence?"

Ryan nodded and the doctor sighed, "Well, I'll leave you two alone and get you ready to check out. Rainbow Dash will be fine, just make sure she doesn't fly, even if she is the fastest flier in Equestria."

As the doctor began to walk out, Rainbow Dash held out her hoof, "Wait! Doctor, how did you know how to treat my wings?"

The doctor stopped, turned and smiled as he raised his hand to show that it was a hoof. Rainbow Dash's eyes widened as she pointed to him, "You're a…"

"You have more allies in this town than you think." He muttered with a reassuring smile before exiting the room and leaving Rainbow Dash and Ryan to themselves.

Ryan walked over to Rainbow Dash and took a seat right beside her bed. She looked at him as he placed his hand onto her hoof and looked her in the eyes. "Are you all right Dashie?"

She nodded, "Yeah…yeah I'm okay."

Ryan nodded and gave Rainbow Dash a forced smile before he looked away and began to cry. Rainbow Dash's eyes widened, "Ryan."

Ryan buried his face into his hands and sobbed. Rainbow Dash looked at him in shock before she put her hoof onto his back and began to rub it.

"Ryan…"

"My parents…Dashie I…" he couldn't even form any more sentences before he cried harder and harder. Rainbow Dash grabbed Ryan and pulled him into a hug and began to rub his back and nuzzle his head, "Ryan I'm sorry. I'm sorry about your parents. They were great people, and didn't deserve to die the way they did; they didn't deserve to die at all. But I'm here for you, don't hold back; I'm here and I'm going to protect you like you protected me."

Ryan was too busy crying to respond, so Rainbow Dash did the first thing that came to her mind. She closed her eyes and began to sing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" like Ryan did for her after she saw the news report after the attack on Leigh Heights. She kept singing in her beautiful, tomboyish voice that made Ryan feel a little better. Rainbow Dash continued with her singing as she hugged Ryan closer to her body, letting his head lean against her chest so her heartbeat could calm him down.

**Wilmont City Hall**

Mayor Drocsid was staring out over the city as he could see blue and red sirens approach the building. He looked down to see a black S.W.A.T. van pull up to the entrance followed by a long line of police cruisers. A small and sadistic smile grew across his face.

He knew that these officers had found him out, and that they were there to arrest him for the violence that he caused with the anarchists and Milites Chaos. After all, the news outlets outside of Wilmont have been talking non-stop about the violence that had plagued the little town since he was elected mayor.

How exactly the police traced the neighborhood burnings to him, however, he wasn't exactly sure. But it wasn't like he was completely unprepared for this moment. On the contrary, he was excited, because now he could shed his puny human form and turn back into his true Draconequus self, now that the chaos and time spent on Earth had allowed him to return to full strength. He closed is eyes and muttered, "Let the fun begin."

Outside of the building, the S.W.A.T. team spilled out of the large, black S.W.A.T. truck and began to head over to the large city shall. Police officers, all from outside of Wilmont and, therefore, not under Discord's commands and only humans, were standing guard in case the Milites Chaos decided to make a surprise visit during their raid.

"All right men," shouted the head of the S.W.A.T team, "We based on reports we know that this man is very unstable, so make sure you are prepared for a confrontation, because there is a very good chance that we could be entering a shit-storm and I don't want to be caught with our pants down. Let's go men."

With that, the S.W.A.T. tea, with their guns drawn and bulletproof shields up for many of them as they wore their visors, stormed the building. Police officers, meanwhile, kept vigilant outside of the building.

Upstairs, the Mayor began to glow in a yellow aura, his body starting to change into the more familiar form of Discord. His body took on a more animated, cartoony look, before every human feature gave way to his true form. His right hand became a lion's paw; his left became a bird's talon. His head sprouted grey fur, as it became that of a horse with two different antlers, one of a deer, the other of a goat. Finally, his feet turned into a goat's hoof and a lizard's leg.

After this, the S.W.A.T. team finally managed to get up the elevator and outside of the office of the Mayor. Some other S.W.A.T. officers were still on their way up the fire stairs, guns drawn as they made their way up the narrow passageways to join their comrades who had already reached the Mayor's office.

The head of the S.W.A.T. team walked up to the door and knocked before calling, "Mayor Christopher Drocsid?"

Suddenly a much more animated voice was heard, sounding completely different from what the mayor had sounded like.

"Yyyeeeesssss?" he asked in a mocking tone.

The head of the S.W.A.T. team was undeterred, "I'm Joseph Kinney, head of the Buffalo S.W.A.T team; you are under arrest. Come out with your hands in the air or we will break in and take you by force."

"Now, when you say hands, does a lion' paw and an eagle's talon count?" the mayor asked, "If not, you may need to re-word your request."

The S.W.A.T. captain rolled his eyes and turned to the others, "Break the door in."

With that, one of the S.W.A.T. officers kicked the door in and he, the captain, and others, stormed the office, guns drawn.

"Freeze…." As soon as the word left his mouth, the S.W.A.T. captain, and the others froze in shock. Their mouths dropped open as they saw a long, thin creature standing before them. Even more shocking was when two wings sprouted from the creature, as well as a tail. The creature turned and smiled at the S.W.A.T. captain, his one, and sharp tooth glistening in the light of the S.W.A.T. team's guns.

"I hope you don't mind, I just had to…_change_." Discord smiled before the S.W.A.T captain shouted, "Fire!"

The officers shot their guns at the Draconeqqus, who just stood there with a smile as the bullets bounced off of him., hitting the ground and wall as if he was wearing a suit of impenetrable armor. The officers stopped shooting and stared as Discord smiled and clapped, "Well, well, that was a _brilliant_ display of the human police force, I hope you don't mind if I take a turn now?"

Discord cracked his knuckles before he shot yellow aura at the officers, including the captain, hitting them and sending them back into the hallway. He then continued out and began to freeze all of the S.W.A.T. team that was already outside. The eyes of the S.W.A.T officers that were frozen now glowed a yellow color as Discord began to put an obedience spell on them. He then smirked, "You have some friends coming up the stairs huh? Well, I can't have that. Go on, take care of them."

With that, the S.W.A.T. team members, now in a trance, walked towards the stairwell and entered. They started down the stairs and, once they reached the other officers that were coming up, they pointed their guns at them. The offices that were not under the spell of Discord, and had been climbing the stairs, looked at them with confusion before they began to shoot their guns at them. The S.W.A.T. officers ducked and tried to go back down the stairs, but it was no use. After a few minutes of bullets ripping through black uniforms and flesh, the hypnotized S.W.A.T. members had killed all of the non-controlled officers.

Discord slowly crept into the stairway and smiled at the carnage before clapping his hands together, "Splendid, just splendid. You will come in handy, won't you men?

"Yes master. Hail Discord." The S.W.A.T team members muttered in their magic-induced trance, sounding like members of a cult.

"But we can't simply rely on guns, I already have those in the form of my anarchists." He put his paw to his chin to think before he snapped his fingers and smiled, "I've got it!"

He closed his eyes and, slowly, all of the S.W.A.T. officers were surrounded in a yellow glow for a few seconds as their bodies changed shape. Once the glowing went away, there were no longer S.W.A.T. officers. There were only a group of cartoon unicorns with hate-filled eyes.

"Ah, I am a genius." Discord mused, "I do think you look quite good. What do you men think of your new bodies?"

"They're lovely, sir." They all muttered I unison, their larger, pony eyes still having a faint yellow glow to them.

"Excellent," Discord clapped his hands together, "Now, go downstairs and help out your brothers in chaos defeat the police force."

"Yes Discord, hail Discord."

With that, the unicorn ponies that had once been brave members of the S.W.A.T. team all closed their eyes and teleported outside of the building to see the police officers running away, shooting like mad at the mob of hundreds of teenagers and young adults that were marching down Main Street, shooting their own guns and hurling Molotov cocktails at small businesses as they passed, setting them ablaze. Cars, shops, buildings, everything that the Milites Chaos passed seemed vulnerable to their fury as they were set ablaze. Some of the anarchists danced around and shouted anti-business sentiment. The rest of the mob began to chant their Latin phrase.

_Resurgere in contereret,_

_Cadent de vastantium._

_Bellum aequalitas,_

_Bellum contra Class._

_Nocte nos Superius,_

_Nocte nos pugnare._

_In iuventus Valete,_

_Discordia est rex._

Discord teleported outside onto the top of City Hall to admire the chaos that surrounded him. Fires raging through the city He began to rise into the air above city hall as the Milites Chaos looked up and saw him, they began to cheer and continue to chant their Latin phrase ending in a very loud "_Discordia et rex_".

Discord raised his hands and sighed, "It is _good_ to be surrounded by such disarray."

**Jail Cell- Carl and Louis**

Carl slowly began to open his eyes only to be met by grim, grey dreariness all around him. He looked to his right and saw the steel bars of a prison cell, and alone police officer standing guard with his gun pointed towards the cell, vigilant but not really looking like he wanted to be there.

Carl then turned to his left and saw Louis sitting up against the wall, a fearful and angry look in his eyes. Carl slowly brought himself to a sitting position and rubbed his eyes and was able to get a better look at the cell around him.

The walls were stereotypically grey and dull, made from the dreariest concrete imaginable. The floor was wet and sticky from Lord knows what, and there were leaks in every corner of the space. There was also a pathetic excuse of a cot in the far corner where Carl saw James laying on his back, staring up at the ceiling with tears in his eyes.

Carl looked back at Louis, who seemed to be glaring at James with anger.

"Louis?" Carl asked, "what's going on, where are we?"

"Police station," he said, "the bastards found us and threw us in here."

"Where are the girls?" Carl asked, suddenly overcome with worry for their safety. Louis just laughed and shook his head in a way that suggested he was very close to losing his mind.

"How should I know?" he asked.

"I don't believe it, how did they find us?" Carl asked before Louis sighed.

"Well, you can blame that on your hippie friend over there." He said as he pointed at James, who still was in the exact same position he had been in since Carl woke up. He didn't even appear to be blinking and the only movement he displayed was the steady raising of his chest with each breath that he took. Also Carl saw tears slowly roll down his cheeks and land on the mattress that he lay on. "He sang like a canary and told them where we were."

Carl looked at James, "James is this true; did you tell them where we were?"

"Yes," James turned to Carl with a scowl, "Only because they threatened Fluttershy. What would you have done in my place?"

"I would have done what's best for the team and kept my mouth shut." Louis hissed. James laughed as he pushed himself up into a sitting position.

"Oh you heartless fuck," he muttered as he glared at Louis, "You selfish prick. Just because you don't give a shit about anyone but yourself, you expect me to sit idly and watch them kill an innocent pony like Fluttershy?"

"Well this wouldn't have happened if you didn't talk to your parents about your love for her so they could capture you." Louis hissed, "Face it, the reason we are in here is because you care more about Fluttershy than the rest of us."

Now, Louis would have understood James' decision, but he was so scared about being captured that he wasn't speaking sense, and James knew this as he exploded.

"THAT RIGHT!" James shouted angrily, "I LOVE HER! AND DON'T ACT HOLIER THAN THOU YOU PIECE OF SHIT, YOU WOULD'VE DONE THE SAME THING, ESPECIALLY FOR RARITY! DON'T' LIE TO ME."

Louis stood up angrily, "Are you threatening her? HOW DARE YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT ABOUT HER!"

James nodded with a smile, "Now you know how I felt when I saw the bastard walking over to Fluttershy with his hoof to murder her in front of me you hypocrite. You sure like to put on this act of being full of yourself and being a logical thinker, I can see most of it's an act." James hissed.

Louis was about to respond when he stopped himself and he looked down, realizing how much in the wrong he was But he couldn't bring himself to say anything and just looked away in shame with a fake rage, as if he was trying to make himself mad at James when he knew he would have done the same thing in his shoes.

"And just so you know Louis," James hissed, "I only spoke when Fluttershy was in danger, when they tortured me I didn't say anything."

"They tortured you?" Carl asked on shock and James just laughed before turning around.

He pointed to his face, which was clearly bruised and covered in streaks of dried blood and let out a dark laugh. "Where do you think I got these?"

"All right that's enough," Carl said, "Both of you got your anger out, now just calm down. We can't afford to turn on each other right now. WE all remember what happened when Discord reversed the girls' personalities, right? He won."

"Maybe if you got big Mr. Meathead Athlete over here to understand…" James said pointing at Louis.

"Hey fuck you, you want me to say I'm sorry fine but don't slam me for being proven wrong this one time." Louis shouted back. "I'm sorry for saying those things but you've got to understand how scared I am. We were attacked out of nowhere, and I'm still scared so I apologize for saying those things about you and Fluttershy, but please understand where I'm coming from."

James laughed, "Let me ask you, what made you suddenly decide to join us? Did you find out they were going to hunt you and try to capture you even if you didn't? Because if so, that's not joining us, that's being a coward after realizing that your idea of having a "safe little world" away from this chaos was proven wrong. How can you be the Element of Generosity when all you do is think about what's best for yourself?"

"You actually think that you understand me?" Louis shouted as tears began to fill his eyes, "you don't know why I do what I do! The only one who does is Rarity and that's because I told her today! I think about others, to a FAULT, and I NEVER told anyone until I told her!"

"Guys, stop it!" Carl shouted, only to have his shouts fall on deaf ears.

"Oh so you told her something that you've never told anyone else?" James hissed with a smile, "what are you in _love_ with the little designer unicorn?"

"No!"

"The big bad soccer star is in love with a pony who has a British accent and loves fashion?" James said with a sinister smile, "So you're like every other European soccer star, aren't you Mr. Beckham?"

This made Louis snap as he lunged at James to attack him when Carl stepped in-between them.

"Stop it! Both of you, if we can't cooperate…"

"Then Discord wins blah-blah-blah," Louis said as he rolled his eyes, "you know what? Fine, let him win. Let him take Wilmont; let him take this world. All I give a shit about now if Rarity and the girls, their safety, and Equestria. To hell with Earth, it's not like the chaos will end with Discord's defeat anyway! There will always be a war, there will always be suffering, and nothing we do can change that!" And with that outburst completed, Louis stormed to the other end of the cell and pressed his hands to the wall. He slammed his fist before he started to stare at the ground and breathe heavily.

James, meanwhile, turned around in his cot so he was facing the wall. Still angry with Louis, as well as scared for Fluttershy and the others, but especially the innocent mare that he loved.

He may have been mad at Louis, but deep down, he agreed somewhat with his statement. At that moment, James cared more about saving Fluttershy and the girls and getting them home safely, than the destruction of Wilmont.

Carl shook his head in disappointment and sat on the ground, having a similar feeling of dread that Twilight did when all of her friends became their "bizarro" selves.

"_We can't work together, it's over. We lost."_ And with that, Carl sat down on the damp floor and put his hands on the back of his head and let out a deep sigh of depression. _"Harmony is dead."_

**Jail Cell- Twilight, Fluttershy and Rarity**

Meanwhile, down the hall, Twilight, Fluttershy and Rarity were trapped in another cell. After waking up, Twilight tried to use her magic to break the bars, but realized that they had been reinforced with some sort of magic-repellant spell. She also tried to teleport them out of the cell, but it was no use. The cell was specifically designed to prevent magic from working. Even Rarity's attempts to use her own magic failed, though that wasn't much of a surprise as Twilight was a student of the subject under the Princess and if she had trouble, the designer pony wouldn't have much luck either.

So the three then decided to talk about their situation, starting with Fluttershy, who told them everything that happened and why they were discovered.

"So James told them because they threatened you?" Twilight asked Fluttershy who gave a weak nod in response. Her small frame was still shaking from the fear that the experiences of being threatened with death .Her eyes were closed and she was done crying.

"I just feel so bad for James," she whispered, "if we never kissed…."

"Wait what?" Twilight asked in shock. Fluttershy opened her eyes and gave a small "_eep_" and looked from side to side nervously.

"Wait, darling. You and James kissed each other?" Rarity asked as her eyes grew wide and her jaw nearly dropped to the floor, "Does that mean you and him are in…_love_?"

"Um…I…yes….I mean no…I mean….I'm not sure…" Fluttershy started with a whisper, her face turning a bright shade of crimson, "…it's just that, whenever I'm around him I…I feel like I found something missing in my life, like we complete each other."

"Wow." Rarity said in shock, "That's….that's unbelievable. Honestly Fluttershy I didn't picture you expressing your love for somepony before me."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Fluttershy asked as she glared at Rarity.

"Well face it dear; you're timid, you tend not to draw the attention of many stallions back in Equestria, you typically aren't the fastest Pegasus except for that one time when you had to help create a tornado, and I thought speed was the main attraction for pegasi…" Rarity started, waving her hoof around with each put-down she gave Fluttershy before Fluttershy's sad face became angry and she jumped right in front of Rarity's face and stared her down.

"How dare you talk to me like that, like I'm not good enough and don't deserve to find somepony before you." Fluttershy hissed. She normally wouldn't be like this, but after the day she had she couldn't hold back some of her rage that had built up within her.

Twilight just stared in awe as her usually shy friend scolded a shocked-looking Rarity, pressing her face against the frightened unicorn's.

"I…I just was…." Rarity stuttered as she took a few steps back, but not before Fluttershy was right in front of her again.

"Don't bother Rarity, I know you're just jealous that Louis and you aren't a couple." Fluttershy said in her still characteristically quiet manner, but in a way that was filled with so much anger that she might as well have yelled.

Rarity gasped, "Fluttershy I never…that's an utterly ridiculous accusation!"

"Is it?" Fluttershy asked, "I seem to remember you flirting with him a lot at the mall, and blushing whenever you looked at him, and your eyes looking at him like he was an ice-cream sundae."

Rarity was speechless; all she could do is turn her blushing face away.

Twilight walked between the two and held her hooves out, "Enough you two, don't you remember when we first faced Discord? We can't allow ourselves to argue. If we don't stay united, he'll win."

"Twilight you didn't see what I did," Fluttershy retorted, but with more sorrow than anger. After all she was mad at Rarity, not Twilight. "This world isn't like Equestria. Complete cooperation and harmony isn't possible in this place.

"Fluttershy don't talk like that." Twilight muttered sadly, but Fluttershy shook her head somberly.

"In all of the adventures that I've been in with you, I've never been threatened directly with death. But here, after only a few days, I was called a freak by James' parents and was almost killed just to torture him." Fluttershy muttered, "I don't see the point."

"What?" Twilight asked. "Fluttershy come on you're talking nonsense."

"I'm sorry Twilight." She whispered before looking down at the ground. "But we're just not meant for this world, and I don't think we can defeat Discord. In this world, good doesn't always win."

Twilight couldn't believe what she was hearing. She knew that Fluttershy was more sensitive and emotional, and after what she went through she really couldn't blame her for flipping out, but to hear her have such a lack of faith; that shocked her.

She turned to Rarity and asked, "Rarity, please help me out here." Rarity just closed her eyes and sighed.

"I actually agree with Flutterhsy, Twilight. I mean, why are we here? This world seems like the perfect place for Discord to rise. All of this disarray and chaos for him to feed on, maybe we should leave him here and go back to Equestria. It's not like he would add much more evil when there is so much around."

Twilight shook her head, "I don't believe you two. We were sent here on a mission from the Princess to save this town, and world, from Discord and that's what we're going to do. Besides, if he conquers this world, Equestria could be next."

"Yes," Rarity laughed, "we'll surely stop him from behind these filthy bars." She said sarcastically as she knocked the metal cell bar with her hoof a few times to illustrate her point.

"Come on you two, this world may be completely different from Equestria, but that doesn't mean it deserves to burn. Think about all of the people who live here, think about Carl, James, Louis and their families." Twilight said, looking from one of her friends to the other, "Most humans here aren't bad. This world is unpredictable and violent in comparison to Equestria, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to make it less so."

Rarity and Fluttershy looked at Twilight.

"Then what do we do, if you don't mind me asking?" Fluttershy asked as she returned to her timid self.

"We just have to hope the others get to us fast." Twilight muttered, "It's up to Rainbow, AJ, Pinkie Pie and the boys to find us and get us out of here."

"And if they don't?" Rarity asked with some desperation.

Twilight shook her head and let out a deep sigh, "Then I don't know."

**Hotel**

Alex pulled up to the hotel where Carl had been staying. Pete was in the back seat, still looking downcast, as Pinkie Pie kept trying to cheer him up, but with each attempt she made failing, she began to become depressed herself and her mane deflated slightly. Applejack was sitting in the passenger seat next to Alex, looking back at Pete.

"Pete, ya all right sugarcube? Ya haven't said much since we picked ya up."

Pete didn't respond.

"He's really upset AJ, I can't even get him out of it." Pinkie said sadly, "I think we should give him some space."

Applejack's eyes went wide and her jaw dropped, "Did…did ya just say we should give him space? Ya? Pinkie Pie of all ponies, think we need to give Pete space?"

Pinkie nodded, "Yeah and nothing I do can bring him out of it. I think I need to take extreme measures later."

Applejack slowly turned around and leaned into Alex, "Ah tell ya I'm worried about Pete."

Alex nodded as he pulled his truck into a parking space, "Yeah, but Pinkie's right. We can't just bombard him. I completely understand why he's upset. His parents disowned him for Christs' sake. If I had loving parents like him do that to me, I…I'm not sure if I'd even want to live."

As he parked the car, all four of the passengers got out. Pete not taking his eyes off of the ground as he shuffled in behind everyone else, that is until Pinkie Pie saw him lagging and went back to join him. She didn't say anything to him and instead leaned against his leg in an attempt to give him the physical feeling of her presence.

They went up the stairs and eventually made it to the hall where Carl's rooms were. Once they reached Carl's room, Alex knocked.

"Yo Carl, it's Alex. Can you let me in?"

No answer.

Alex looked down at Applejack, who just looked up at him with a worried glare. Alex knocked again, and, again, no one answered. He juggled the door handle and saw that it was locked.

"Okay AJ," Alex muttered, "I think it's your time to shine."

Applejack nodded and did what she did best. She turned and bucked the door with her hind-hooves so the door was open. Alex jumped back in surprise at how easily she managed to break the hotel room door in.

"Jesus AJ; how strong are your back legs?" Alex asked.

Applejack turned to him and gave him a cocky smirk, "Ya should know. Ah see you looking back at them every chance ya get."

Alex blushed and covered his eyes in embarrassment. He pointed into the room, "Just go in."

Applejack nodded with a chuckle before she went inside. Once she was in the room, she stopped laughing and froze in shock.

Alex walked in next and saw what Applejack was staring at; the sight of Spike, Anna and Lisa frozen on the bed in a grey aura; same positions that they had been in a little while before.

"Oh God." Alex said in shock, "what in the hell…."

"They look almost like ah did when Discord reversed mah personality. Well, me and mah friends." Applejack said.

It was true, they were as gray as the mane six were after Discord made them the opposite of their elements, for instance, Applejack became dishonest.

"They aren't moving at all." Alex said as he walked closer to inspect them. He touched Anna on the shoulder to try to wake her up, but she didn't budge. Even when he pushed her shoulder more, she stayed still, as if she were a statue.

Alex turned behind him to look at Pete and Pinkie Pie, only to see that they weren't there.

"Where's Pete?" Alex asked.

Applejack turned and saw that they were missing, "Ah don't know, it wasn't like we were supposed to be playin' babysitter for them." Alex glared at Applejack who gave him a defensive look, "What. We weren't, were we?"

Alex rolled his eyes and walked out of the room with Applejack right on his heels. They went to the door next to Carl's room, which had the door open. Alex walked into the room with Applejack to see Pinkie Pie standing, looking at Pete, who was stood in front of the bed where his parents were frozen like everyone else had been. What's more is that they had been frozen in the _SAME_ position they had been in when Pete left the room. Pete's father was comforting Pete's mother as she cried into his shoulder.

Alex took a step forward to see that Pete was not crying, but he just stared at his parents' motionless forms with sad eyes.

"Pete…?"

"They didn't change," Pete muttered, "that pain they're frozen in was from me. It wasn't caused by Discord, or the people that froze them or scared them…it was me; I broke their hearts, and now they're stuck like this."

"Pete, please don't blame yourself for this." Alex pleaded but Pete just shook his head.

"But it's my fault."

"No it's not Pete." Pinkie Pie chimed in as she slowly walked over to his side, "you were honest with your parents. It's not your fault that they reacted the way they didm and it's not your fault that they're stuck like this."

Pete shook his head, "I shouldn't have said anything. I should have known it would have been too much for them to understand."

"Who cares what they think?" Pinkie said with a small hint of anger, "If they don't accept it that's their own loss. Our feelings for each other don't need anypony's permission or blessing. All that matters is our love for each other."

Pete looked down at Pinkie and finally managed to flash her a small smile that made her mentally sigh in relief that she had made him feel a little better.

"You, you really think that?" Pete asked hopefully.

Pinkie gave her trademark grin and nodded up and down so quickly that when she stopped, her eyes were still spinning around in her sockets until she put her hooves to the side of her head to steady herself. She shook her head and smiled, "I know it!"

Pete then looked back at his parents' frozen bodies and shook his head, "I will say this. Whoever froze my parents like this is a dead man…or pony…or whatever the fuck he is."

Alex and Applejack's eyes shot open at Pete's sudden hostility, as he usually was the quietest one in the group.

"Their dead." He spat, "Discord's going to pay, I'm going to make sure of that."

"Well that's great sugarcube, but now we need ta find out where the others went." Applejack said when, suddenly, Alex's phone rang.

He pulled it out as Applejack raised an eyebrow, "Why is it yer suddenly the "go-to-guy" for phone-calls?"

Alex shrugged, "I guess I'm that awesome."

Applejack rolled her eyes as Alex answered his phone.

"Hello?"

"_Alex I need you to come pick me and Ryan up."_ said a familiar, tomboyish voice.

"Rainbow Dash?" Alex asked, "How…how are you using the phone?"

"_Ryan dialed for me but he's too upset to talk, just come by the hospital please."_

"Hospital? Rainbow Dash, what happened, are you all right?"

"_Just please pick us up, I don't want to talk about it right now."_ She said in a sad tone before she hung up.

Alex also hung up and turned to the others, "We have to go to the hospital."

"What?" Pete asked as the two ponies had worried looks, "Why are they at the hospital, did someone get hurt?"

"Is RD okay?" Applejack asked because, after all, they were best friends. "Or Ryan? Is somethin' wrong with him?

Alex shook his head, "I don't know. Come on, let's go."

**Hospital- Night**

Ryan and Rainbow Dash both waited outside of the hospital for Alex to pick them up. Ryan was still in a depressed mood, but he did feel better being near Rainbow Dash.

"Dashie."

"Hm?" she asked as she looked at Ryan, "What's up Ryan, are you feeling better at all?"

Ryan gave a small shrug, "Not really, but I…I just wanted to say thank you for everything you've done for me."

She gave him a small, comforting smile, "Don't worry about it Ryan, I told you I'd always be there if you needed me."

"I know," Ryan whispered, "but you've been there for me longer than we've known each other. I mean, I've told you how much you cheered me up on the show and how I loved you before I actually met you."

Rainbow Dash nodded and Ryan continued, "You know, people think those who watch "My Little Pony"…the show you're on….are strange because its target demographic is little girls. At our age, and as guys, we're expected to watch "mature" shows" that are really much less mature than your show." Ryan muttered "mature" with complete sarcasm.

"Then why did you guys watch us?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Well, I can't speak for the entire community." Ryan muttered, "but for me it was an escape. Watching you and your friends going on adventures and learning lessons about how to be great friends for each other did so much more for me than any other "adult" shows. I mean, I would rather sit at home and watch you and your friends than go out and watch my friends get drunk and try to get laid. Or in James' case sing KISS songs when he's intoxicated. I hope I don't sound like I'm being pretentious and above everyone else, but some people drank their problems away. Me, I watched you girls and your adventures. That was my means of escape."

Rainbow Dash leaned against Ryan and nuzzled him and looked up at the moon. "You know you have a very _different_ personality than Carl or the others."

Ryan sighed, "I know I'm a bit odd, but I like how I am. Like my parents…" Ryan choked up a little at the thought of his two loving, supporting parents who he'd never see alive again before he continued, "…like my parents always told me. I need to be myself, and I always was more of the innocent, imaginative type, I guess. Well, until I broke Lawrence's back today. That short of changes how I'd describe myself"

"After everything I've seen in the past few days," Rainbow Dash whispered, "I can see why escapism is so important in this world."

"That's actually a huge reason most bronies watch the show," Ryan said, "Or I think so at least, I don't want to put words into their mouths."

The two sat on the bench outside of the hospital for another fifteen minutes in silence, looking up at the star-lit sky in awe.

"Dashie?"

"Yeah?"

"What's it like to fly?" Ryan turned to her, "I mean, I've been meaning to ask you this and I might have already I don't remember, but I still wanted to hear you tell me…"

Rainbow Dash giggled, "It's amazing. You want escapism," she pointed her hoof up into the air, "there is no better escapism than flying in the air where there are no rules or boundaries to hold you back. You feel special, I guess it sounds self-centered, but when you fly it is just _freedom_."

Ryan nodded before Rainbow Dash continued, "And it's something I'd never get to experience again if it wasn't for you." Ryan looked at Rainbow Dash who just smiled at him, "Ryan, I wanted to thank you for saving me. You're one of the most loyal friends I have…and the best colt-friend I could ever have. I hope you don't mind me calling you that, since you're, you know…a human."

"I wish I wasn't." Ryan muttered sadly before Rainbow Dash looked at him with confusion, "you didn't think that banter of me wishing to fly with you as a Pegasus was just hogwash did you? I really meant it, but now, with my parents dead, I…I don't know what I have left to live for here."

"Ryan don't talk like that, you have a lot to live for here. You have a lot of friends…"

"And what point will life be without you?" Ryan asked as Rainbow Dash seemed taken aback from his statement, "I know how these stories end. I read "My Little Dashie" and I've watched Digimon and so many other shows. Eventually we have to go our separate ways because we come from different worlds, and that's it."

"You can stay in Equestria with me." Rainbow Dash muttered, "If you wanted I'm sure the Princess would let you."

Ryan sighed, "I would like that, but I'm not sure if it would work."

And with that, the two waited a few more minutes for Alex to arrive. The full moon hung over their heads as they both began to find slight peace after the traumatizing day that they both had. Rainbow Dash's wings no longer hurt too horridly, and Ryan's misery of his parents' death was still stinging him, but to a lesser extent, as he realized that as long as he had Rainbow Dash by his side, he had a reason to go forward.

**Well, there it is. Now there will be less "mushy-gushy" stuff and more action and drama coming up.**

**I also hope the last bit with Ryan wasn't too repetitive to what I talked about before, I just felt like venting some of my own feelings about why I like the show so much through Ryan.**

**I hope you're enjoying this story so far, and I'd like to thank everyone for reading and reviewing.**

**And, until next time...**

**Go Giants! Go Rainbow Dash!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17- Strength in Love**

**This is going to be a much shorter chapter than my other ones because if I broke this up into 3 stories this would end the second one.**

**So I apologize for the shorter chapter, but hopefully it's still a good way to end the second "act", so to say, and begin the third and final one, which will be mostly action until the end when I hope character development will pay off.**

**Anyway, I only own my OCs, and thanks for reading and reviewing.**

**And Ryan's depression in this Chapter was inspired by the reviews I got saying how they were shocked he wouldn't do more. I hope it addresses that issue, but don't worry he'll let out some rage in future chapters. Most likely not kill, but he will have more of a reckless abandon.**

**On with the story.**

**City- Night **

Brett stood in the middle of the road as he watched the city burning. He was in the shadow of the dominant City Hall where his boss had finished his transformation, and now was enjoying his time basking in the chaos that was happening all around him. A smile slowly began to grow across his face as he watched the destruction. The Latin chants continued from every corner of the city, every floor of every building that was around Wilmont City hall chanted out the entire chant before they simply kept repeating.

"_Discordia et rex"_

The anarchists held their guns up high as they chanted. Many of them also were looking up at the top of Wilmont City Hall where Discord was. It was as if they were praising him like some sort of God. In fact, it could be said that Discord was somewhat of a God to them; after all he had been their main source of inspiration and morality…or lack-there-of in this case.

Brett let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes before his black aura surrounded him, changing him back into his unicorn form, into Obscure Darkness. Once the aura disappeared, only an animated unicorn pony stood in the street where Brett had been only moments before, his steel grey eyes scanned his environment as his black form stood right in front of Wilmont City Hall. He turned and looked up at the building with a big smile as Discord hovered above the roof, arms outstretched and his eyes closed as if he was having the time of his life. Which, in fact, wasn't far from the truth as he loved nothing more than to see someplace in compete disarray.

Out of the corner of his eye, Obscure thought he saw something move. He turned his head and saw what looked like a little, black colt that looked as old as the CMCs, with a silver mane looking at him with fear. Obscure's jaw dropped at the sight. He closed his eyes and shook his head in disbelief before opening them again only to see that the colt was gone. The happiness and excitement in his face was now replaced by confusion and disbelief from what he saw.

"_I think I need some rest."_ Obscure thought as he let the colt slip his mind, which was made possible by an explosion nearby that snapped him out of his confusion. He turned his attention back to the city hall and his sadistic smile returned as he saw Discord floating above the building. He closed his eyes and teleported up to the top of city hall to join Discord.

"Sir!" he shouted.

Discord looked down at him and smiled, "Ah Obscure, such a joy to see you. Do you like what I've done to the city?" Discord said before he gestured to everything that was happening around him. All around, the city burned as anarchists lit up buildings with their gasoline and Molotov cocktails. Gunshots rang out as people who tried to resist or fight back were shot. In fact, the entire city was lit up in a glow of orange.

"Just like you said," Obscure said with a grin, "From envy, arises chaos."

Discord laughed, "Indeed, Obscure."' He then landed beside Obscure and continued; "Now I know the military is coming in to try to stop us, but they cannot stop us. In fact, soon I shall bring this level of chaos to every point of this world."

"How long?" Obscure asked and Discord just gave him a grin.

"Very soon." He sneered before turning his attention back to the city. "These humans think their world was chaos before I got here, wait until I get through with it. They'll miss the pain and disarray their world used to have."

Obscure smiled until, once again, he saw the same small colt standing near him, looking at him with a sad expression. Obscure shook his head and ignored the sight, passing it off as just a figment of his imagination, but that didn't stop the colt from remaining in his line of vision, shaking his head in disappointment.

**Street- Night **

After picking Ryan and Rainbow Dash up from the hospital, Alex drove everyone off to the park so they could regroup and discuss what plan they had, if any, to find the others and take down Discord. They had decided to take the back roads for obvious reasons, which all involved the city not being safe at all. That didn't stop the six from seeing the illuminated downtown area in the distance as they drove parallel to the city. They all watched in shock as the fire continued to engulf the city, which was clears to them even for the distance they were from it.

After a little while, most of the group had fallen asleep except for Ryan and Alex, who was driving and, therefore, couldn't fall asleep for obvious reasons.

Ryan was very quiet, having a somewhat dark expression while Rainbow Dash just leaned against him, sleeping peacefully and even snoring a little bit. Pete was asleep in the backseat as was Pinkie Pie, both of them leaning against each other as they slept.

Alex just kept his eyes on the road. He looked to his right to see Applejack asleep as well. While Rainbow Dash did help some of his guilt, he still felt bad about everything.

He looked in his rearview mirror to address Ryan, "So, Ryan," Alex began, unsure about how to ask any question without upsetting him about his parents, "you said Lawrence was in the hospital because you…"

"Broke his back, yes." Ryan muttered, "I…I didn't think I could ever do something like that to anyone, but when he stood above Dashie with that knife, I…I snapped."

"Did you do anything to him in the hospital?" Alex asked, "I mean, if it were me, I'd want to kill the fucker. Especially if Applejack was being threatened, who-boy I would rip the bastard's throat out."

Ryan shook his head sadly, as if he was disappointed in his, what he thought was, "weakness", "No, I'm going to channel my rage onto all of the members of Milites Chaos and Discord's army that I lay my eyes on." Ryan sighed with sadness, " But I feel like I should have done more to him. It's funny, before I was upset that I wasn't there for my parents and Dashie made me feel better about that. But now I'm upset that I didn't do more to the punk who had them killed."

"You did the right thing," Alex muttered, "Like I said, I wouldn't have been able to hold back my rage, but you did, and that really is commendable."

"I don't know," Ryan said sadly, "I still feel like I was weak, and Lawrence deserved more pain for what he did."

Alex looked in the rearview mirror to see Ryan's eyes. Even though he was looking down, he could see that there was something different about them. The innocent, bright look that they had only a few days before was now gone. It looked as though Ryan's happiness had disappeared as it had with many Vietnam veterans back in the seventies. In other words, Ryan had an emotionless face that screamed out "corrupted". The difference, however, was that his eyes showed that he wasn't completely a hollow shell, as they looked miserable.

"My parents deserved more…Dashie deserves more." Ryan muttered, "and I let them down because of my cowardice. I don't think I could kill anyone, but to just leave him as he was when I could have done so much more to him pains me."

Alex didn't respond; he just turned his attention back to the road. Neither of them knew that Rainbow Dash had woken up and was listening to the conversation as she pretended to sleep. She opened one eye a little bit to look at Ryan, who was staring out of the window still with an expression that she never saw on his face, pure hatred. She suddenly felt upset and nuzzled her head against Ryan to try to make him feel better, and in turn she felt him begin to stroke her mane.

In the front, Applejack was also awake and heard the conversation. She didn't open her eyes or anything but she also became concerned for Ryan. After all, he had never appeared as angry or miserable as he was then, and his words only added more reason for concern.

Eventually they made it up to the park. Fortunately for them, the lights were still on even though no one was there. Once they parked, they all made their way over to ta large hill by the soccer field that overlooked the city. Once at the top, they all got to witness the sight of the downtown area engulfed in flames, orange light illuminating the sky. They were about two to three miles away from the city so while it was somewhat distant, they were all aware as to what was going on.

Ryan eventually walked away from the group and sat on another part of the top of the hill, staring out over the city. Applejack and Rainbow Dash saw this. Applejack walked over to Rainbow Dash and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Ah think ya need ta talk with him." She whispered.

"I know, but he's…I feel so bad. It always seems like he's getting in a better mood when I talk to him, and then he just relapses." Rainbow Dash said sadly, "I don't think I can do anything to make him feel completely better."

Applejack sighed, "Ah'm not sure either. But ah do know he still needs ya, and ah'm not sure if ya heard him in the car but he feels like he let ya down."

"I know, I did hear him," Rainbow Dash muttered sadly, "and I want him to know that he's wrong, that he didn't let me down. He did his parents and me proud, but…it's like he can't accept it, or he doesn't want to."

Applejack put her hoof onto Rainbow Dash's shoulder. "Go talk ta him sugarcube." The cyan mare nodded sadly before she trotted over to Ryan to talk to him.

As this was going on, Alex, Pete and Pinkie Pie were watching from their own position on the hill. Applejack made her way back to the group.

"Well AJ, what were you talking to Rainbow Dash about?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Nothin' just some issues with Ryan." Applejack answered.

"Oh." Alex said.

"Why is he being so hard on himself?" Pete asked.

"His parents died, Pete, and it's human nature to blame yourself even when things aren't your fault." Alex replied sadly. "It shouldn't be, but that's the way it is."

"Do you think I could do anything to cheer him up?" Pinkie asked in a much less cheery way than she normally would have. Her mane wasn't flattened, but she was nowhere near being her cheery self at the time being.

"Ah don't think so Pinkie," Applejack replied as she looked back to see Ryan and Rainbow Dash sitting next to each other, talking some more about his emotions "right now ah think that only RD can help him get though this."

Meanwhile, as the other four were talking about Ryan, Rainbow Dash kept trying her hoof at making Ryan feel better. "Ryan listen to me, you did the right thing back there and I'm glad you didn't kill Lawrence."

"But he almost killed you,' Ryan said sadly, "and…first I was upset that I wasn't there for you or my parents, but now I feel as if I should have done more and just when I think my anger at myself is going away, it comes back for another reason."

"Why are you so hard on yourself?" Rainbow Dash asked sternly. Not in any way angry, but in a way that showed how desperate she was to get to the bottom of Ryan's continuous hating himself for everything that had happened, "You keep blaming yourself for things that you couldn't control."

Ryan sighed and looked up at Rainbow Dash, "Because I…I always blame myself for things like this. Even when I know that I did everything I could I worry that I could have done more. It's no mystery that I lack confidence…you know this, and you've tried to get me over that."

Rainbow Dash leaned in and quickly gave Ryan's cheek a quick peck. Ryan turned to look at her before they kissed each other again, but this time on the lips. While not a cure-all, Ryan couldn't help but feel more comfortable as Rainbow Dash kissed him. After they broke off and hugged each other tightly.

"Ryan I know I've said it before, but until you stop blaming yourself I'm going to keep saying it. I'm proud of you," Rainbow Dash whispered with encouragement as she looked directly into Ryan's eyes, "and I know if your parents were still alive, they would be as well."

Ryan looked at Rainbow Dash, "You deserve someone better than me."

She just shook her head, "No Ryan, I don't. There isn't anypony else I want to be with in place of you."

They then kissed each other again, Ryan wanting to just blurt out "thank you" to Rainbow Dash as many times as he could for everything she's done to make him feel better after his parents died, which involved a lot of comforting and conversations, and Ryan knew that he couldn't keep being the victim. If he was going to help defeat Discord and get the girls home safely, he needed to be strong and do everything in his power to stop the growing evil. And he also had to be there for Rainbow Dash if she needed him, just as she had been thee for him whenever he was upset.

As he watched from afar, Alex shook his head and thought, _"I've never seen a couple as close as they are before." _

Alex had always seen how most other couples from high school in in-between younger people had an overwhelming focus on the physical, sexual aspects rather than the emotional, personal parts that seemed to be the driving point between Rainbow Dash and Ryan's relationship. Not to mention, he never saw two people as supportive of each other as they were. Ryan was there for Rainbow Dash when she needed him, and she was there for him.

After thinking this, Alex let out a sigh and continued to wait with the others until Ryan finally made his way back over to the group with Rainbow Dash trotting beside him, still unable to fly due to her injury.

Ryan still seemed upset, but he definitely calmed down a bit and seemed to be fretting over his own "weaknesses" and shortcomings less. Rainbow Dash hoped that this time his improved attitude would last longer than it had every other time she had tried to calm him down, but if not, she wouldn't hesitate to continue to talk to Ryan to make him feel better. To show this, she leaned herself against Ryan once they stopped walking.

"Feeling better?" Alex asked

Ryan gave a small nod. "A little bit. Sorry for being so depressed."

"Don't worry about it man, we understand." Alex said with a smile.

"Um, guys I just thought of something," Pete muttered, "how can we rescue the others when we don't know where they are?"

"That's a good point." Alex said as he thought for a minute before he let out a sigh, "fuck we're up the creek without a paddle."

"Well think," Applejack added with urgency, "who would take 'em and where would they be taken?"

"I think I know."

Everyone turned around to see Princess Celestia standing before him or her with a worried look on her face. Everyone and everypony gawked at the sight, completely shocked by the Princess' surprise appearance.

"P-Princess Celestia?" Rainbow Dash asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Yeah you know we could have used your help, like, yesterday." Alex said with some irritation.

"I am sorry that I could not reach you." She replied, "But like I've told Carl, Discord would know that I was here. Also there is a spell preventing my entry to this dimension."

"Then how are ya here now?" Applejack asked skeptically with a raised eyebrow.

"I am currently transmitting my image to you." The Princess replied, "but I am not physically here. It's similar to, what do you humans call it, a _hologram_?"

Everyone is too shocked to say anything else.

"Your friends are being held in the Wilmont Police Station." The Princess answered, "The police force has been overtaken by Discord and his unicorn army."

"Unicorn army?" Alex asked.

"Discord has a small army of unicorns at his command. It isn't large," Princess Celestia said, "but now that it's combined with the Milites Chaos, it is very powerful."

Ryan looked up at this, "The "Milites Chaos", are those the anarchists?" Princess Celestia nodded and Ryan growled before muttering under his breath, "Those fuckers."

"So what you're saying is that we need to break into the police station, defeat his army of police unicorns, and save the others?" Pete asked. "And after all of that we have to defeat Discord."

"Yes." The Princess replied.

"Um Princess," Rainbow Dash said, "not to be the pessimistic pony of the group, but how can we beat an army? I mean, there's only six of us, and my wings are broken so I can't even fly."

"Ya speak like ya were the most important member of the group?" Applejack asked with a little annoyance at Rainbow Dash's arrogance.

"Well…no but my wings were still an advantage." She muttered, "But that doesn't change my original worry, how can we beat them when there are so few of us and so many of them?"

"You six have something that none of them do." Princess Celestia muttered, "something that binds you more than friendship. In Equestria, the power of friendship is enough, but for your world there needed to be more. So while your friendship does provide you strength, it's not the only thing you have on your side."

"What do you mean?" Pinkie Pie asked, "what's more than friendship?"

Alex, who had been listening, just had a major epiphany. After what the Princess had said he realized what none of them had noticed before.

"Love." He muttered before looking up at the group, who mostly stared at him with confusion. Princess Celestia, however, gave her kind smile and nodded.

"Love?" Pete asked.

"Think about it, whenever one of us gets magic it's because our partner is in danger." Alex said, "we aren't just given are elements because they represent something we value, they also represent the girls that we fell in love with."

"What do ya mean Alex?" Applejack asked.

"At the mall, when I saved you with that spontaneous spurt of magic, it was caused by seeing you in danger." Alex muttered.

"That's right," the Princess, said, "every one of you is different, and not all of you have experienced this magic yet. But once you embrace your element in yourself, and you realize your love for your partner, that's when it will work for most of you. Ryan was able to do the same thing when I told him that he had to think about Rainbow Dash, and believe that he was loyal."

Everyone turned to Ryan, who just looked at the ground in embarrassment.

"Wait," Alex interjected, "if what your saying is true, then couldn't the others have used magic if they saw their partners in danger?"

"Most of them need to realize their love and then embrace their element in the sense that they must believe in it. Alex you were an odd case," the Princess said, "you were the only one that I didn't need to say anything to in order to get their magic out. That's because she was in danger in front of you, and you were in an environment that didn't block your magic so it worked."

She then turned to Ryan, "and Ryan, your faith in loyalty was restored when you realized that Rainbow Dash could be saved and you realized that you needed to get to her. Your love for Rainbow Dash is what powered your magic as well."

Ryan nodded before Princess Celestia continued, "And Carl only was able to teleport that police car when he thought about magic, and to him the element of magic was represented by…"

"Oh, oh! Was it Twilight?" Pinkie Pie asked excitedly. The Princess nodded.

Alex said as he held his hand out, "Hold on, are you saying that Carl and Twilight are in love with each other?" Princess Celestia nodded and Alex couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head, "Damn what a hypocrite."

"So," Applejack took a step forward, "what yer saying is that they can use magic when they embrace their elements, which means thinkin' of us and fallin' in love with us?"

Princess Celestia sighed, "Boys, there's a reason you six were chosen."

"Because we're bronies, and we'd know how to beat Discord based on how you did so?" Alex asked.

"Not just that, after all there are a ton of other bronies in Wilmont." Princess Celestia said, "but because deep down, you each loved your partner, even before they were real. Alex, you've always loved Applejack because of her southern, down-to-earth self, like you and how you remember your life in Texas, before the divorce and when your life was good. You also love her honesty, which is something you lost faith in after your mother broke her promises to you."

Alex nodded and Applejack looked up at him, "Is that true Alex? Ya loved me because of mah honesty?"

"Of course, that and you're eyes always made my heart melt a little bit. I'm a sucker for green eyes and southern accents." Alex chuckled, which made Applejack blush and giggle.

"Pete, you loved Pinkie Pie because she was everything you used to be, random, happy, and full of laughter. But unlike in Equestria where that behavior is respected and seen as a positive, on Earth it is nothing but a negative and worthy of mockery." Princess Celestia continued, "which is why you lost faith in it, until you watched the show and Pinkie here made you laugh more than you had in years, and also made you remember how you used to act."

Pinkie Pie turned to Pete with a big grin, "Really?" Pete just smiled and gave her a nod, which made her jump up in joy, "Yay! I knew I could reach everypony with my happiness and joy and _craaaaaazy_ behavior! He-he!" she extended the "a" in "crazy", as if to prove her point.

Finally, Princess Celestia turned to Ryan, "And Ryan I'm sure I don't need to tell you."

Ryan looked up at her as she continued; "You loved Rainbow Dash because you lost faith in loyalty when your friend Lawrence ditched you. Not to mention, Rainbow Dash was the girl you've always wanted to be with. Supportive, kind, and strong so that she could cheer you up as easily as you could cheer her up. Also, you loved how confident she was in herself, and wished that you had that level of confidence. She was the type of girl that you always wanted to be with."

Ryan nodded and Rainbow Dash looked over at Ryan and gave him a reassuring smile, Ryan looked down at her and finally returned it, showing his first smile in a while. He still was sad, but he knew that he couldn't keep moping around in front of Rainbow Dash. As he decided earlier after his talk with Rainbow Dash, his mourning would have to wait, and beating Discord and getting the girls' home was he top priority.

"I don't have much time," Princess Celestia added quickly, "I just want to tell you that discord is almost at full strength and if you do not defeat him soon, the entire world will become engulfed in chaos. More chaos than we had in Equestria, or than Earth has now."

"Thank you Princess." Alex answered, and everyone and everypony else did the same. Princess Celestia nodded before she disappeared just as soon as she appeared.

Once she was gone, there was a silence among the group as they began to think about what they should do, and how they could possibly take down an entire army and defeat Discord when there were only twelve of them.

"So now what?" Pete asked.

"We get ready ta break into the police station ah reckon?" Applejack asked.

"Yes." Alex answered, "and we use our magic to overwhelm them."

"Are you sure you guys know how to use it?" Rainbow Dash asked with skepticism, "I mean, I saw Ryan use it so I know he has the ability, but that was in his anger to get to me? Can all three of you use magic right now?"

Alex closed his eyes and began to think about Applejack, and everything that she meant to him. How she was honest, kind, strong, hard working, and always there for those that she cared about. How she was always there for him, even when his own stubborn nature with his mother and drunken stepfather got in the way. As he thought this, his hands began to emit the familiar orange aura that they had at the mall. His heart began to feel warm as he opened his eyes to see the orange aura surrounding him. Soon, his eyes also began to glow in the orange light, causing everyone and everypony to step back in shock as Alex was now surrounded in orange light that danced and swirled as if it were fire.

"Whoa! Alex that's amazin'!" Applejack said in amazement as her muzzle curled into a big grin. "Is this all because yer thinkin' of me?"

Alex smiled at her and gave her a small nod, which made Applejack return it with her own smile before she leapt up onto him and gave him a big hug, even though he was still engulfed in the orange light. Soon the light went away and Alex returned the hug. He then turned to Pete, "Can you do that?"

Pete nodded and closed his own eyes. He began to think about Pinkie Pie, and her adorable smile that always brought him out of a bad mood. As with Alex, Pete's hands began to glow in an aura, but his was pink like the mare he loved. Eventually, his own heart began to feel warm as his body was encased in pink light, like his eyes.

"Yay! Petey's thinking about me!" Pinkie Pie shouted in joy as she jumped around excitedly.

Pete then turned back to normal and looked at Pinkie with a huge grin, larger than he ever showed before, "That was awesome!" he said with great excitement, almost with a hint of laughter.

Now everyone turned their attention to Ryan, who wasn't even looking at them. He was busy looking at the city from a spot at the top of the hill. His eyes were no longer sad, rather they were angry. He could feel his body shaking in rage.

"Ryan?" Rainbow Dash asked uneasily as she started to walk up to Ryan with an equally uneasy smile, "aren't you going to demonstrate your magic?"

Ryan turned to Rainbow Dash and gave her a smile before he shook his head, "No, Dashie. I'm saving everything for those fuckers at the station."

After saying this, however, Ryan's hands glowed blue as he held them out towards the direction of the city, glaring out at the destruction and anarchy that was overtaking the small upstate New York town.

"And at the end of the day they'll know they fucked with the wrong person's parents and mare friend." He turned to Rainbow Dash with a smile still on his face as if to acknowledge her. She blushed and gave a smile right back to him. He then looked up at everyone else with his cocky smile; a smile that none of them had ever seen Ryan with, nor could they picture him with, "Tonight we embrace our destinies. Tonight, we end this."

And with that the glowing in his hands disappeared. "Tonight they pay."

**Prison Cell **

Carl lay awake in his cell as the moonlight crept into the small, concrete space that he, Louis and James now had to call their sleeping quarters; until the others came to rescue them of course. He began to think more about Twilight and how he wanted to get her out of this hellhole.

And he didn't just mean the prison.

He meant Earth.

He looked around to see Louis asleep in the corner, and James staring up at the ceiling with a look that showed how deep in thought he was. His eyes were sad, but at the same time angry, much like Ryan's had been before his last conversation with Rainbow Dash. Carl looked up, "James are you okay?"

James didn't reply for a few moments before he muttered, "They made Fluttershy cry...they're going to pay. Nobody makes Fluttershy upset and gets away with it if I can help it."

Carl was a little worried by James' emotionless tone, but he was busy thinking about other issues to let James' own emotions bog him down. HE turned away from the moping teen and looked up at the ceiling and continued to think until his eyelids began to feel heavy.

"_Her innocent nature will die here."_ Carl thought sadly as he closed his eyes and tried to drift off to sleep. _"Just like the innocence of humanity has."_

Little did Carl know that in another cell, Twilight was still awake with the worry and nagging thought that they might fail at stopping Discord, and even if they did would it really benefit this world? She was pressing her hooves together, deep in thought, before she let out a deep sigh, _"I can't let my doubt get the best of me."_

She looked around at Rarity and Fluttershy, who were both asleep, and who both had streaks of tears that had dried over the past few hours. Twilight just shook her head, _"But it's so hard not to have doubt when everyone else has it."_

She looked up and out of the barred window at the darkness that's only light came from the full moon. In the distance, she could make out the chilling chant that almost was a signal of the chaos that had yet to come. Not just to Wilmont, but to the twelve elements.

_Resurgere in contereret,_

_Cadent de vastantium._

_Bellum aequalitas,_

_Bellum contra Class._

_Nocte nos Superius,_

_Nocte nos pugnare._

_In iuventus Valete,_

_Discordia est rex._

Twilight covered her ears and began to shake in fright, a fright that she never had in Equestria. If only the chant made her so scared, she thought, how would she react when she was faced with the violence that this world brought? Based on what the Princess told her, any violence in Equestria was nothing compared to what could happen in this world.

As she continued to lay on the floor, unable to sleep with the chant still filling her ears and all of the worries that she had, all she could think to herself was.

_"What have we gotten ourselves into?"_

**There you go a very short chapter to end the second "act" to this story.**

**Please let me know what you think and also warn me if I ever get to repetitive on anything. **

**Hope you enjoyed the short chapter, and thanks for reading.**

**And, as usual...**

**Go Giants! Go Rainbow Dash!**


	18. Chapter 18

****Chapter 18- Prison Break****

**Yes, now some action! Okay so first I'd like to say thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing up to this point.**

**I'd also like to thank TV addict for his review, especially because some it inspired the idea of anarchist gangs rising up all over the world.**

**As usual, I only own my OC characters. **

**And let me know if anything is confusing or if I ever contradict what I wrote earlier.**

**Street- Night**

Just outside of Wilmont a long line of Humvees and other green military vehicles began to make its way into downtown Wilmont. The moonlight and fire created the only source of light as the line of trucks, guns loaded and soldiers ready to fight against the anarchist army, was closer and closer to the burning city as the sound of the Latin chant of the movement began to reach the soldiers' ears. They show no fear, however, as they have dealt with much worse in other parts of the world. To them, this is just another day at battle. Their view of the world is already hardened, as it had to be in order to fight against such evil forces as Al-Qaeda and other terrorist forces that they had to deal with before Wilmont was even a speck on their radar of potential warzones.

"_We're approaching the city, keep your guns loaded and prepare for a hell-storm."_ Came the voice of the general over the radio of each vehicle, as the soldiers did not remove their eyes from the road.

*********Flashback- Canterlot *********

"Come on crescent! You can do it!" shouted Bright Illusion as he tried to encourage the small colt to perform a levitation spell. Bright looked to be about the same age as Applebloom and her friends, as did Crescent Light, who was straining, eyes shut tight and his teeth clenched as he tried to get a small rock to levitate over to him.

Crescent was a small, black colt with a silver mane and eyes. His still did not have his cutie mark yet, and Bright Illusion was doing everything in his power to help him acquire it. He also wanted to get into the Princess' Academy, which Bright was already the star student of. This meant long afternoons in the open area of the quad that was part of the academy working on magic in an attempt to master spells such as levitation, teleportation, and more.

"I…" Crescent started to say before he let out a groans and fell to the ground in exhaustion. He sighed, "I can't."

"Yes you can." Bright said with a reassuring smile before he trotted over to help Crescent up off of the ground. "You just need to have some faith in yourself. Come on, get up." He used his own magic to lift Crescent off of the ground and onto his hooves.

"You see?" Crescent said with disappointment as Bright help him get to his hooves, "I can't ever do what you do, Bright. You're amazing at magic."

"Crescent, you have more potential than you think." Bright said with an encouraging tone, "you just need to learn how to harness it."

Crescent pouted and looked away, "Easy for you to say, you're the Princess' star student. All I am is the "blank flank" of Canterlot, the one who's mocked, the one who isn't good enough to get into the Academy." His ears went down as he finished the sad statement.

"Yeah well," Bright said as he put his hoof onto Crescent's shoulder and patted it, which led to Crescent lifting his eyes up to meet Bright's, "that's why we're here, to prove everypony wrong."

Crescent smiled at Bright, who just gave his trademark smile that always managed to make Crescent feel better about himself. "Thanks Bright."

"No problem, ready to give it another go Crescent?"

Crescent nodded excitedly, "You bet!"

Bright stood back as Crescent got into a position that looked like he was bracing himself. Like he knew that he was going to be hit by something, and wanted to make sure he wouldn't get pushed too far back.

"Go for it dude!"

Crescent smiled as he closed his eyes and his horn began to glow.

**Reality-Wilmont City- Hall Night**

Obscure eyes shot open as he woke from the extremely vivid dream. His black coat was soaked in sweat and his silver eyes were filled with tears, showing his stress that the dream had caused him. He looked around and realized that he had fallen asleep at his post without meaning to, something that he hadn't done in years. After all, he had usually been so vigilant and strong-willed that he had always managed to keep himself awake, even when he felt as if he was too tired to carry on, and that was a feeling that he had quite often. He groaned and sat back up and put his hoof to his head, _"What's going on, why do I keep seeing that colt…Crescent?"_

"You mean why do you keep seeing yourself?" came another, younger voice. Obscure jumped in fright as he looked to his right to see the same small, black colt that he had seen in the street earlier, and the same black colt that was in his dream.

"What are you talking about, you aren't me." Obscure growled.

"We used to be the same," said the colt, or Crescent Light, "until you let yourself fall victim to Discord's spell, and changed your name to Obscure Darkness. And, as a colt, even I think that name's generic."

"I didn't need to fall victim to anything," Obscure growled, "I made a choice of my own free will, this is who I am now. This is who I've always been."

"You really believe that?" Crescent said with a harsh tone, even though his eyes showed worry for his adult self, "you…you hardly remember the unicorn that you used to be, you won't _let_ yourself."

Obscure laughed, "What, you mean when I was you? Please, I'm way past that. The "blank flank" that was picked on before his time in the Academy is now the most powerful unicorn in Equestria! And now Earth!" Obscure laughed haughtily as he said this, making Crescent step back a bit in fright, "and after being screwed over by the Princess, he's the most feared." He chuckled with a sadistic delight that made Crescent shudder for a second before he spoke up again

"And how did you get there?" Crescent said as he managed to re-gain his stern attitude that he had before Obscure went on his laughing-spree, "killing the only friend you had when you were just the "failure" of Canterlot? When you were the only one your age without a cutie mark? A cutie mark that Bright helped you get?"

"I got it _MYSELF_!" Obscure growled as he lunged at Crescent, only to see that he was no longer frightened, but just stood stoically. "Bright didn't get it for me, Bright didn't help me, I did it!"

"So his inspirational words and the friendship that he showed you had nothing to do with it?" Crescent said with a serious and disbelieving look, like he knew Obscure was lying to himself. "You really let yourself believe that?"

Obscure smiled, "Yes. Now please leave me be."

"I can't, as long as your conscience continues to scream out in agony, you'll be seeing me."

Obscure turned around to scream at the imaginary colt, only to see that he was gone. He suddenly felt worried and looked around, trying his best to find the little unicorn that had just talked him down. But when he couldn't see him, he shook his head and teleported up to the office of the mayor, where Discord was laying back in a hammock that he had magically made appear in his office, wearing sunglasses and looking almost identical to the way he did in the show.

"Sir?"

He looked over at Obscure and pushed the sunglasses to the bridge of his muzzle and smiled, "Obscure, where have you been?"

"A bizarre trip down memory lane." Obscure said, rubbing his horn with one of his hooves, "Through a weird dream."

"Ah, well come over here and look outside!" Discord said, gesturing to the window, "Things are just starting to hear up. We even have the United States military down there right now!"

Obscure walked over to the window and looked out at the city, watching as Humvees and tanks began to drive through the city, firing rounds at the protesters, who now numbered in the thousands. Obscure watched as one protester threw a Molotov cocktail at one of the front Hummers, setting it ablaze. The soldiers ditched the truck just before it exploded in flames. The protesters then began to shoot at the soldiers, who fired back. One soldier was hit in the head, while one of the protesters was shot in the jugular, falling to the street and writhing around for a few moments before he passed out, soon to succumb to the darkness of death. A tank rolled up and fired at a large mass of the protesters, blowing several of them up before others swarmed over to the tank and began to break in and pull the soldiers controlling it out. Once out of the tank, the soldiers were thrown to the ground and shot, blood splattering the pavement of the street.

Obscure couldn't help but smile at how hectic things had gotten, "Holy Celestia this is amazing."

"Beautiful isn't it?" Discord said before he lay back in his hammock and put his sunglasses back on over his eyes. He put his hands behind his head and let out a sigh, "truly beautiful. I told you, from envy arises chaos. Remember that Obscure, it's valuable advice."

"I will sir." Obscure said with a smile before he looked back at Discord, only to freeze when he saw Crescent standing in the doorway of the office, looking at him with disappointed eyes, some tears forming in them. Obscure shook his head and muttered, "Get out of my head."

He looked up to see that he was gone, but then heard the young colt's voice inside his mind, _"Just because you don't see me doesn't mean I'm not here. Until you face what you've done I won't abandon you."_

**Jail Cell- Guys**

There were two guards on duty watching the cell that held Louis, Carl and James. They were both relaxing, one reading a magazine and the other watching a small television that was way to filled with static to watch anything clearly. The officer watching the television hit the box a few times before grumbling, "You know just because Discord loves chaos doesn't mean he has the right to wreck our means of entertainment. I'm getting cabin fever in this joint!"

As the two moronic officers did their thing, Carl was sitting against the wall inside of the cell, listening to the chanting and seeing the orange tint to the night sky through the barred window. His mind fell on Twilight and the others, but especially her. Were they seeing this destruction or hearing this ominous chant? If so, how would it affect them when they come from a world that's worst problems were from dragons, manticores and other creatures that could causes havoc, but oftentimes were able to be tamed or reasoned with.

Now she was in this world, where she faced people that often could not be tamed or reasoned with, people who were desperate.

James kept staring at the ceiling, not sleeping a wink the entire night, his eyes had heavy bags under them but they lacked the appearance of someone who was deprived of rest. His mind was solely on Fluttershy and how he almost let those bastards kill her. He also didn't notice that a small amount of yellow aura seemed to be forming on his fingers, but it only lasted a short while before it went away, as if something was preventing his magic from working to its full potential.

Like the cell was blocking him from embracing his element.

Like it had with Twilight.

But not only was the image of Fluttershy's horrified eyes burned into his memory, but also the faces of all three men who had threatened her. Brett, Officer Cantor and that other officer that held onto the defenseless Fluttershy's foreleg as Brett approached her with his hoof, covered in a deathly aura, and ready to take her life just to get information from James.

And now James wanted to cause them all of the pain that they threatened to cause Fluttershy.

He wanted them dead.

And he wanted to be the one to make that wish happen.

Finally, Louis was pacing back and forth in his cell, eyes glued to the grimy ground and his hands on the back of his head. He looked just as restless as the other two, even though he did manage to get a small amount of sleep. And by small, it was a VERY small amount; he only slept for about two hours before he woke up from a nightmare. But it wasn't a nightmare involving the city; it involved himself in the center of media frenzy after winning the Barclay's Cup playing for Manchester United, his favorite soccer club, and the team that he wanted to play for if he did, in fact, get to play in the English Premier League.

That is, if he even _wanted_ to do it for his profession.

This may seem like a pleasant dream, but when he looked to his left and saw his beautiful, blonde supermodel wife, he suddenly remembered Rarity and a pain of sadness shot through him like a bullet. He wanted Rarity instead of the beautiful woman that he managed to pick up after a Victoria Secret shooting in London, and who only liked him for his cash and fame. To make matters worse, James' comment on his love of Rarity being like every soccer player who wanted a European beauty as their wife, was compounded when he heard his "wife's" British accent.

Though her voice was different from Rarity's, it did make him think more about her and how he wished that she was the one with him in the spotlight; a spotlight that he didn't really enjoy, and only endured to bring pride to those who knew him, and to bring pride to his deceased parents.

After waking up, Louis immediately began to pace and think over his feelings towards Rarity.

He stopped in front of Carl, "Hey Carl; could I ask you a question?"

Carl looked up at Louis and gave him a small nod. Louis sighed, "Okay, now please don't judge me. But I was wondering…what does it mean if I can't stop thinking about Rarity?"

Carl looked at Louis with an _are you kidding_ _me_ look before he shook his head, "Dude, are you oblivious? It means that you like her. "

"Is that weird?"

Carl shrugged, "A little maybe, but I like Twilight and Ryan likes Rainbow Dash and Alex likes Applejack so…I guess we're all a little weird like that." Carl then gave Louis a small smile, which made Louis chuckle a little.

"That's interesting, so you're whole rant against that Ryan kid was you…"

"Yes I was just being mad at myself." Carl said with a rolling of his eyes, "Me and Twilight already went over this. But Ryan still shouldn't have come to the mall when people were following him."

Louis nodded and he looked up at James, who was still staring at the ceiling muttering with his eyes wide open, unblinking, and his hands clasped over each other.

**Outside of Station**

Two officers stood outside of the station, talking to each other as they continue to keep vigilant for any movement that could be a potential threat to the station. After a while, they hear what sound like footsteps coming closer to them. They both look out into the dark and hold their hands out, ready to use their magic if need be.

"Who's there?" One of the officers called out into the darkness.

There is a silence until three figures come out of the darkness. Two look to be members of Milites Chaos, dressed in black and wearing bandanas over their faces so only their eyes were shown, well, except for one who was wearing green-tinted sunglasses. The taller one had an orange and red bandana on, as well as a black headband on. The shorter anarchist had a simple red and black bandana and the green-tinted sunglasses covering his eyes. In-between the two was Pete, whose arms were held in place by the two others that had him.

And yes, the taller one with the skull bandana was Alex, and the one with the red and black bandana was Ryan.

Pete put on his best hopeless and weak act that he could, making himself look tired and quiet, something that he had a lot of experience with over the years being the wall-flower who was afraid to speak his mind.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience," Alex muttered, "but we found this piece of shit running from the hotel with his little pony friend."

"Ah," said one of the officers, "and where's the pony he was with?"

"She got away," Ryan said.

"How?" asked the other officer with a raised eyebrow to show his curious attitude towards the story.

"We aren't sure," Alex, said, "but she was odd, it was like physics didn't apply to her."

The two officers shrugged and opened the door, "Go on in."

Alex and Ryan then dragged Pete inside as the door shut behind them and the two officers went back to keeping guard.

Outside, behind a police cruiser, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie watched everything as they were hidden from sight.

"Well that looked easy." Rainbow Dash said, "What is the collective IQ of these guys 20?"

"This comin' from the mare that didn't finish flight school?" Applejack asked with a smirk.

"Shut up AJ."

"Hey, AJ? Dashie?" Pinkie asked with a perplexed look.

Rainbow Dash sighed and put her hoof to her face, "Ugh, what Pinkie?"

"What did he mean physics don't apply to me?"

Rainbow Dash raised her face and looked at Pinkie with a raised eyebrow, "Really?"

"Are ya kiddin' me Pinkie Pie?" Applejack asked with a look that was just as disbelieving as Rainbow Dash's.

Meanwhile, back in the hall where the three teens were walking, they approached another door with two officers. The hall was dimly lit and the walls were grey, almost creating an ominous feeling.

Once they reached the door and were standing in front of the two officers, they looked directly up at them with great attention, except for Pete, who continued to play the victim role and looked right at the ground.

"Is this another element?" asked one of the officers.

"Yes sir." Ryan said as he stared at the man.

"All right, show us your allegiance and we'll let you in." said the officer.

Ryan and Alex looked at each other, confused as to what they meant by "allegiance". Alex looked back at the officers.

"Allegiance?"

"Your tattoo." Said the officer as he held his hand out to show the Draconequus tattoo that was on his hand, which he pointed to, "We need to see it to make sure you aren't imposters, and that you are actual agents of chaos for Discord."

Alex gulped nervously, "Well you see…our tattoo."

With that, Alex whipped out a shotgun that was hidden behind his back in his belt-loop and pointed it at the officer while Ryan pulled out a revolver. The two officers did not flinch and instead just smiled at the boys.

The one that was right in front of Alex shook his head and laughed, "Son, don't you know it's unwise to bring a gun to a magic fight?" he asked as he lifted his hand, now a hoof, which was in the magic aura that was all too familiar to the boys at this point.

"That's why we have both." Ryan muttered before his hand became covered in cyan aura and he grabbed the officer that was in front of him by the face and slammed his head into the wall, which cracked as the man's skull made contact.

Alex was next, as he took the opportunity that he had when the officer in front of him was distracted by Ryan's actions, to use his aura to lift the officer into the air and slam him into the ceiling before he turned and threw his arm behind his so the officer flew through the air and smashed into the door that led outside. Alex had so much force in his magic that the officer broke the door down and went flying through it. The two officers that were guarding outside, the two that Ryan, Alex and Pete ran into first, saw the officer fly past them as the door in-between them burst open. As the officer hit the ground hard and lay on the ground, the two officers looked at each other before they turned and ran into the hallway- only to be frozen by Pete, whose pink aura surrounded the two officers. He lifted them up into the air as they looked down at him with horrified looks on their faces.

"I guess physics doesn't apply to me either." Pete said with a smirk, the pink aura that covered his eyes hid the extent of joy he had in them at making that snarky statement. He then used his magic to slam the two officers into each other and pushed them out of the building through the same doorway that the other officer had gone through.

As his aura disappeared, Pete smiled and turned to see Ryan lift the last officer up and grab his keys that were for the building. He then threw him into the opposite wall near the entrance. He chuckled, "Eat wall bitch."

Ryan and Alex both pulled down their bandanas so their faces were revealed, and they could get some fresh air without having to breath through a bandana that some anarchist scum had worn near his mouth for hours.

Ryan then turned to the door and, having the keys in his hand, opened the door to see that they were in the office area of the station. Cubical offices and desks filled the large room that's only source of light came from a couple of lamps that had been left on after all of the other officers had left.

Pete ran back to the entrance door and whistled for the girls to come out of from behind the car that they were using to hide. They trotted over to Pete and entered the hallway.

Ryan and Alex, meanwhile, slowly began to walk into the station, looking around in case anyone decided to jump out.

"Where do you think they're being kept?" Ryan asked.

"Depends where the cells are, because I assume that's where they are." Alex answered back when suddenly a black beam of energy smashed into the cubical to the right of Alex, making both boys jump to the ground in cover as another energy blast smashed into the cubical directly behind them, destroying the computer and sending sparks into the air and landing onto the ground around the two boys.

"Where is that coming from?" Alex asked, but Ryan was already on it, as he leapt to his feet and shot a blast of his own aura at the cubical that he knew they were firing from. The officer that was behind the wall of that cubical went flying into the wall behind him before slowly falling to the ground in a heap of debris. Ryan didn't hesitate to run over to the officer and use his magic to lift him into the air. Alex ran over to join him, as did Pete, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie.

"Whoa!" Pete said as his jaw dropped at the sight.

"Oh my gosh Ryan how are you doing that?" Pinkie Pie asked with a big grin, showing her amazement.

Ryan turned to them and smirked, "Magic of course." He turned back to the officer and his smile disappeared, "Where are you holding our friends?"

"You think I'd tell a punk like you?" the officer asked and Ryan just chuckled in response before turning the officer around so his back was facing the other wall of the room, which was about forty feet away.

"Yes, I do."

"Well I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not saying a word." The officer said angrily, though he was clearly frightened.

Ryan shrugged, "Okay I'm not even going to ask if you want it the easy way, or the way that involved me beating the shit out of you, because I prefer the latter."

With that, Ryan pushed his hand forward and sent the officer flying towards the back wall of the room at a rapid rate. The officer screamed the entire way until he slammed into the white wall, at which point Ryan pulled him back to him, almost like a human yoyo. The officer screamed until he stopped directly in front of Ryan, who just shook his head in a mocking way.

"Maybe a more authoritative voice can get you to talk?" Ryan asked before he looked over at Rainbow Dash and motioned for her to come over. Rainbow Dash smirked and ran over to Ryan's side and looked up at the officer with an evil grin, "Let him have it Dashie."

"Okay bud listen up," Rainbow Dash said as she glared up at the officer, putting on her attitude that she used when coaching the Pegasi to get ready to make the tornado, "right now my colt-friend here has you trapped in his magic and we are going to get you to speak if it's the last thing we do. If you refuse to speak, Ryan here will play ping-pong with you as the ball and the wall as the other paddle until you spill the beans. Or, if you feel really tough where that doesn't get you to speak…" Rainbow Dash got onto her hind legs and put her hooves up into a boxing position., "…you'll have to deal with me."

"And me." Applejack said walking over, "and ya don't want ta know how hard ah can buck ya. Yer nose will be in the back of yer head and yer eyes will be crossed."

The officer now looked extremely nervous and Ryan shrugged, "One more time perhaps?"

And, as he did before, he sent the officer flying back into the wall and pulled him back right after he hit it, the man screaming the entire way. Once he got back, Ryan lowered him so he was down to Rainbow Dash's eye-level.

"Okay, are you gonna talk, or are AJ and I gonna have to kick your flank while Ryan holds you down?" Rainbow Dash asked as she pulled the officer's face right into her own so her rose-colored eyes could stare into his very soul. "Well?"

"Okay!" shouted the police officer, "The boys are in the second floor cell and the ponies are on the third floor! They're in the prison cells," he then looked up at Ryan, "just don't let this dyke pony beat me up!"

Rainbow Dash smirked, "So I like mares now, huh?" She then looked up at Ryan. "Ryan, please show this jerk what you do to people who call me a lesbian."

Ryan nodded and then pushed the officer into the same wall that he had before, but with much more force so that when he hit, he was knocked out cold. The officer slid to the ground, eyes closed and mouth open.

Ryan sighed and let his aura disappear before he stuck his fist out to Rainbow Dash, who returned it with her hoof in a "pound it" fashion.

Or bro-hoof, whichever term you prefer.

"Good job Dashie."

"Right back at you Ryan."

"Okay guys, how are we going to do this?" Pete asked.

Everyone turned to him, realizing that they were going to have to split up.

"Okay, Pete, you Pinkie and AJ go get the girls on the third floor." Alex said, which led to an annoyed look from Applejack.

"Wha…Alex why can't ah go with ya?"

"Because right now one of us has to split up from our partner," Alex muttered, "and since Rainbow Dash can't fly Ryan and I will keep an eye on her as we go get the guys on the second."

"Hey! Why is everyone acting like my lack of flying is such a disability?" Rainbow Dash complained, "I can still kick serious flank without them!"

Ryan smiled, "Well then, maybe I just want to return the favor for all of support that you've given me by keeping an eye on you?"

Rainbow Dash looked at Ryan with an annoyed glare, "What are you my foal-sitter?"

Ryan just crossed his arms and looked down at Rainbow Dash with a look that showed how uncompromising he was about the matter, and Rainbow Dash couldn't argue her way out of it. She roller her eyes, "Fine, but don't expect me to just hide behind you and Alex, I'm going to fight."

"Well I know I can't talk you out of that." Ryan said with a brash smile that made Rainbow Dash give her own cocky grin that Ryan loved.

"Okay, there are two staircases, one there," he pointed to one end of the room where there was clearly a door that led to a flight of stairs, "and one there." He said pointing to another, closer set of stairs.

"We'll split up so if they get one group, they have a harder time getting both. All right? Let's do this." Alex muttered as he, Ryan and Rainbow Dash headed off in one direction, to one of the staircases, while the other three went off to another set of stairs.

**With: Ryan, Alex and Rainbow Dash**

Once the three reached the staircase and started to run up, the flight of stairs to get to the second floor. Once there, they stopped and Alex slowly pushed the door open, looking both ways to make sure the coast was clear before he slowly crept into the dark corridor, followed by Rainbow Dash and Ryan.

"Where are the guards?" Ryan whispered.

"Beats me, maybe we most of them out already." Alex answered.

"Hey!" came a voice from behind them.

They all turned to see a police officer standing while pointing his finger at the trio, "Freeze!" he shouted.

Ryan and Alex looked at each other, smiled, and turned to the man before they both raised their hands up and shot two beams of light directly into the officer's chest, sending him flying into the window, which broke as his body made contact with it. He didn't, however, go through, as there were bars on the outside. So he just fell to the floor as the officer on the first floor had.

"Pfft…is this really the best Discord could do?" Rainbow Dash scoffed, "They're like rag-dolls."

"Don't complain about it Dashie," Ryan said as he lowered his hand, the aura still circulating around it. "Thank Celestia for it. After all it makes it that much easier to reach our friends."

Alex did the same as Ryan and lowered his hand, which was still glowing orange. "Let's move."

**Third Floor Hallway Outside of Cell Room: Pete, Pinkie Pie and Applejack**

"Well this is wonderful." Pete muttered as he, Applejack and Pinkie Pie all peeked around a corner to see four guards outside of the room where Twilight, Fluttershy and Rarity were being held. "How are we supposed to get by?"

"Use yer magic, and ah'll buck." Applejack said with a grin.

Pete nodded before Applejack and him ran out, followed by Pinkie Pie, and began their assault.

Pete managed to throw one of the men into the wall, but the other three were using their own magic to block his abilities to freeze them, as well as prevent Applejack from reaching them to buck them, as she kept getting shot at. She would take a few steps before one of the men saw her and hurled a spell at her, hitting the ground near her and causing her to jump back in fright.

"Shit, there are too many!" Pete screamed as he realized his magic wasn't working.

"Now what?" Applejack asked as the Police officers began to walk closer to the group, taking advantage of Pete being the only one in the group that could do magic.

"Allow me to handle it the Pinkie Pie way." Pinkie Pie said with a smile before she pulled her party cannon….

…Yes, you read correctly, out from behind the corner that they had been hiding only moments before…where no cannon existed, and pointed it at the men. Pete and Applejack just stared as Pinkie Pie shot the ammo of confetti and balloons, and…everything needed for a party, at the men. The ammo of party supplies, coupled with the shock wave, sent the remaining three officers into the wall, knocking them out. Pinkie Pie grinned, pulled the cannon up so the smoking barrel was near her face, and blew on it like an outlaw would blow on the smoking barrel of a gun. She turned to the two others, who just stared at her in confusion.

"What? Don't you know I always have my party cannon on me. I always need to be ready to throw a party, no matter the circumstance!"

Pete pointed to the cannon and back to the corner, confused about where the cannon had come from.

"Um, Pinkie how did you…" Pete started before Pete stopped himself and shook his head, "you know what, never-mind. Trying to understand you is like trying to understand the plot of _Tree of Life_."

Pinkie just grinned and trotted over to the door, followed by Pete and Applejack. As they reached the door, Applejack grabbed the ring of keys off of one of the unconscious guards, "Sorry, partner. Hope ya don't mind that we borrow this." She said before snagging the ring in her mouth.

She tossed them up to Pete, who snatched them in mid-air and opened the door to the cell room, where two other officers were sitting at a desk in front of the cell where Twilight, Fluttershy and Rarity were. And from what could be seen, only Twilight was awake.

Twilight's eyes widened and she grinned excitedly as she saw the who had come to rescue them.

The guards' jaws dropped when they saw Pete, Applejack and Pinkie Pie stand in the doorway.

"Allow me ta handle this." Applejack said as she ran up and head-butted one guard before, in one fluid motion, turning around and bucking the other in the jaw. Both hit the ground and stayed there.

Twilight just giggled at the sight as Fluttershy and Rarity both slowly began to wake up.

"Wow, impressive bucking there Applejack." Twilight said with a smile.

"Ah shucks Twi, that was nothin'. Trees are a lot harder to rattle than these guys. He-he." Applejack said with a blush and giggle.

Pete walked over and unlocked the door with a set of keys that he still had from the knocked out officer.

Rarity and Fluttershy both slowly started to wake up, Rarity let out a big yawn, "Oh what is going on that I can't even get my proper beauty sleep?" she then saw Pete, Pinkie Pie and Applejack, as well as the open door, and her eyes lit up. "Oh my we're free…YES! OUT OF MY WAY!"

With that, she bolted out of the cell, leaving a dust cloud behind her, before she fell to the floor and kissing it, "Oh thanks Celestia I…" she stopped kissing the floor when she realized what she was doing in disgust, "why am I kissing this filthy floor?" she began to spit and rub her tongue and mouth on her wrist, trying to rid it of all possible germs and grime that she had picked up on her lips.

Fluttershy slowly made her way to the open door and looked up at Pete, Pinkie Pie and Applejack and smiled, "Thank you for saving us." She then looked behind Pete and her expression fell from excitement and joy to one of confusion, "Oh my, where's James?"

Rarity then looked up, her eyes wide as she looked around frantically, "And where is Louis?"

"Ryan, Alex and Rainbow Dash went to go get them downstairs." Pinkie Pie said happily, "So all we have to do now is go meet them!"

Twilight closed her eyes and tried her magic out, now that she was no longer in the cell. Once she saw that it worked, she grinned, "My magic is working again! I can help you guys out now."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Applejack said happily, "Let's get goin'."

**Second Floor- Hall outside Cell With Ryan, Alex and Rainbow Dash**

Four officers stood in front of the door that led to the cell holding Carl, Louis and James. They were talking among themselves when Alex and Ryan started to walk down the hall, their hands and eyes glowing in their aura. Before the officers could react, Ryan used his magic to freeze them in place and lifted them up off of the ground ever so slightly.

Rainbow Dash walked out from behind them and looked up at Ryan, "Ryan, can I please take care of these bozos?"

Ryan nodded and Rainbow Dash grinned evilly before turning to the four men and lunging at one of them, punching him like mad before leaping to another one and beating him up. After a very short amount of time, again God bless cartoon physics, she managed to beat the snot out of all four men so that when Ryan released them, and they all fell to the floor unconscious.

Rainbow Dash turned to Alex and Ryan, brushed her hooves against each other as if she was cleaning them off after a long day at work. She also closed her eyes and crossing her forelegs before nodding, "Done."

Ryan chuckled and shook his head, "You're too awesome for words."

Ryan opened her eyes and blushed, "Ryan I appreciate your comment, but right now we have some friends to save."

Ryan nodded and he, joined by Alex, both walked over to the door that led to the cell room.

Ryan took the keys off of one of the officers and opened the door. Inside, just like upstairs, there were two officers, but these two were oblivious to everything that was happening. Once was watching a television with way too much static, and the other were sleeping in his chair.

All three of them raised their eyebrows and looked at each other.

"They really didn't' hear any of that?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Alex shrugged, "Like Ryan said, don't complain about their incompetence." He then used his power to lift the two officers up into the air. They suddenly took notice of the three of them and started to scream and flail around.

"Ryan, the cell?" Alex said as he gestured to the cell that Carl, Louis and James were in.

Ryan nodded and ran over to the cell, to see Carl and Louis at the door waiting for him to open the door.

"Ryan, how did you take down all of those guards?"

"Well me and Alex have magic," Ryan said with a chuckle as he opened the door, "and I have a mare-friend who makes beating people up twenty-percent cooler."

"Oh ha-ha! Very funny Ryan." he heard Rainbow Dash shout from where she was, which was still next to Alex has he held the two officer up in the air.

James was still lying on the bed when Louis and Carl walked out of the cell.

"James, what are you doing? Come on let's go before more officers come!" Ryan shouted.

James didn't respond as he kept staring up at the ceiling with anger filling his eyes. He didn't even seem to notice Ryan calling out to him.

"James!" Louis shouted out, finally making James close his eyes and slowly sit up in his bed before walking out of the cell to join the others. Once everyone was out, Ryan turned to Alex and nodded. Alex then levitated the two officers into the cell and dropped them as Ryan slammed it shut and luckily locked it before the officers could reach the door.

The officers were angry and tried to use their magic to get out, only to find that their auras disappeared almost as soon as it started to appear. They both looked at their hands in horror before looking up at the group of kids and Rainbow Dash who were just smiling at them, as if taunting them.

They were trapped in the magic-proof cell.

Ryan smiled and pressed both of his hands to his lips and blew a kiss, which went into a double-middle finger to the officers as he grinned.

"Let us out of here!" shouted one of the officers as he slammed his fists into the bars.

Everyone just started to head out, leaving the two pissed off officers in the cell. They exited the room and started walking down the hall that they came down, passing the four officers knocked out on the floor. Louis and Carl saw them and their eyes widened.

"What the hell happened out here?" Carl asked in shock.

"Rainbow Dash. I held them in place and she beat them up, it was a combo attack." Ryan said as he and Alex continued walking forward. James didn't even seem to notice the four officers that lay on the ground, and followed Ryan, Alex and Rainbow Dash further down the hall while Louis and Carl continued to gawk at the scene. Louis held out his hand to the others.

"Wait!" Louis shouted, "Rainbow Dash did all of this!"

They all stopped and turned around.

"Yeah I did." Rainbow Dash said with a big smile. "Are you surprised?"

"But…she's so small…and her wings are bandaged." Carl added, just then taking notice of her clearly injured wings.

Alex shrugged, "She's Rainbow Dash."

"And you don't fuck with Rainbow Dash." Ryan added, having always wanted to say that at an opportune moment like this.

"Besides," Rainbow Dash added, "I can take down opponents that are tougher than these weaklings in ten seconds flat, this was like a flight in Ponyville Park on a summer day."

Carl and Louis decided to drop the matter and follow the others.

"All right whatever, let's just get going."

They started forward and but then stopped once they entered the office floor with the cubical offices for the second floor. They saw two shadowy figures standing in front of them. The other four turned around to see the two officers standing behind them. Once was Officer Cantor and the other was the second officer that had helped him hold down Fluttershy.

Officer Cantor smiled, "I see we have a bit of a jail break going on here?"

Alex hurled a spell at Officer Cantor and the other officer to freeze them in place, only to have Cantor block it. Alex's expression fell into shock as Officer Cantor just chuckled while his little assistant just stood and smiled smugly. Officer Cantor lifted his hand and wagged his pointer finger in a "no-no" fashion before it began to turn into a hoof. The other officer's hand changed as well, both men emitting their aura.

"I think we need to teach you al little lesson in humility." Officer Cantor said.

"Excuse me," came a female voice that caused both officers to turn around to the source only to see Twilight standing in front of the other five with a relaxed, confident smile on her face, "but how can you teach humility when you don't understand it yourself?" she asked smugly.

Officer Cantor fired a beam of his magic at her, only to have her create a shield that blocked it, sending his spell into the roof and away from the group. Her horn then glowed and she fired an energy blast at the two men, sending them through one of the nearby offices' windows. Twilight put such force behind her spell that the office that the two men landed in was destroyed.

Everyone ran into the destroyed office to see Officer Cantor just before he teleported away. Unfortunately for his friend, he was still knocked out.

"Take him into the interrogation room." Carl muttered. Alex and Ryan both carried him off as Carl looked over to see Twilight looking at him. He didn't think a second more before he ran over to her, as she ran to him at the same time, and they hugged each other. They then looked each other in the eyes.

"Twi, are you okay? They didn't hurt you did they?"

"No Carl I'm fine." She answered back with a smile. "Thanks for asking. What about you, are you all right?"

Carl nodded, "Yeah."

"Good." Twilight said with a smile.

He also sighed in relief but then he heard something next to him. He turned to his right to see Louis and Rarity holding each other, kissing as if they had been separated for years by war, which meant it was quite a show for Carl and Twilight to watch. The big, bad athlete making out with Rarity was interesting, to say the least.

As they broke the kiss, Rarity nuzzled against Louis' chest, "Oh Louis, you have no idea how horrible it was being in that cell."

"How dirty was it?" Louis asked with a slight teasing tone.

Rarity just looked up at him and shook her head, "You have _no_ idea."

Louis chuckled as Rarity smiled back at him before the kissed.

James, meanwhile, slowly walked up to Fluttershy, who still looked scared and looked down at her.

Fluttershy looked up at James with her large fright-filled eyes that were still moist with her tears. As they looked at each other, James just collapsed into her and hugged her close to him as she hugged him back. James's eyes were still red with the mix of sorrow and anger that he had for the night, but he felt better knowing that Fluttershy was all right. She was just glad to see James after being frightened ever since Brett almost killed her.

"Yo Carl how did you do that with your magic?" Louis asked as he stood back up after his reunion with Rarity.

"I thought about Twilight." Carl answered before Twilight looked up at him with a smile, "and everything she means to me. It worked before so I thought it'd work again."

"Princess Celestia told me how you did that to teleport somepony that was chasing you." Twilight said with a blush.

"So you knew?" Carl asked, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"It slipped my mind." Twilight shrugged with a small chuckle, "Besides she told me that when you were in denial about your crush on me, and I didn't want to push you into telling me until you were ready."

"So you knew that I loved you and that love powered my magic...the whole time?"

Twilight laughed, "Of course Carl, I'm smarter than you give me credit for."

Carl nodded, "Valid point."

After another quick hug, Carl and Twilight stood up and started off to join the others, along with Louis, Rarity, Fluttershy and James.

Once they joined the others in the interrogation room, while the officer was being tied down to the chair, they received a quick briefing about the situation from the others who had helped rescue them. This conversation included how their magic was controlled by their love for their partners, and how seeing them in danger resulted in their magic coming out.

Carl and Twilight were the only one in the group of people or ponies that had known this, and that was only due to Carl remembering how his love of Twilight, and how he associated her with magic, helped him teleport the police truck. Therefore, he figured it out before the others told him. Louis, Rarity, James and Fluttershy, however, were baffled. James, however, was also angry at himself after hearing about this revelation.

"Wait!" James said sadly, "then why didn't it work when Fluttershy was in danger?"

Twilight, who was helping Alex, Ryan and Applejack restrain the officer to the chair that James had been in earlier, leaned into the led and pressed her horn against it. She then looked up at James, "James, were you in this chair when Fluttershy was being threatened?" James slowly nodded, as if he were sad that he couldn't help Fluttershy out when she needed him like Ryan had with Rainbow Dash, and Alex had with Applejack.

"Well there's a magic-canceling spell on it, in fact it seems like the same spell that was used on our cells." she said.

James didn't seem to be relieved at all with this revelation, as if he still though he should have been capable of helping Fluttershy out some way, and now he glared angrily at the unconscious officer that had helped in Fluttershy's torture with a new rage.

"Oh Twilight, is that why you couldn't use your magic? I mean…I don't mean you aren't powerful enough…" Fluttershy began to say when Twilight raised her hoof.

"It's okay Fluttershy, and yes that's why we couldn't escape."

"Do ya think the spell is still in affect?" Applejack asked as she motioned to the chair.

Twilight nodded, "It is."

"Well then I believe it's time for some answers courtesy of mister unicorn police man here." Alex muttered as he finished restraining the officer to the chair, "as soon as he wakes up that is."

"I've got it." Ryan muttered as he reared his arm back and slapped the officer across the jaw, hard. His eyes shot open and he slowly looked up at his captors. Carl and Twilight were right in front of him, while Ryan and Alex were at his sides. He tried to move, but, as James had hours before, realized that he was stuck in place. He also tried his magic, only to realize it petered out and failed. He groaned and continued to struggle.

"Don't even try to escape mister." Pinkie Pie said with a very stern, un-Pinkie Pie like face, "you aren't going anywhere. And if you try…" she pulled her canon out from behind another corner. She rolled it in front of her and slowly pointed down at it threateningly with a scowl on her face.

The officer just laughed as if to show his annoyance with the situation that he found himself in, "Oh you've got to be kidding me. I've been taken prisoner by six teenage boys and their little mare-friends?"

"Damn straight." Louis growled from near the doorway, where he stood with Pete and a still angry looking James.

The officer looked down at Carl and Twilight, "You expect me to speak, don't you?"

Carl and Twilight look at each other and then back at the officer before both giving a simultaneous, "Yes."

"And if I stay silent on the matter?"

Pete said, "Well then, you'll have to contend with us. Six boys and two unicorn that can do magic, two ponies that can kick your ass, a pony that's a "stare master"…" and then he pointed at Pinkie Pie, "and a pony that destroys logic and reason with her antics."

"And you've managed to piss off of every last one of us." Ryan hissed.

"And what then?" the officer asked, "I have an army of unicorns and anarchists on my side."

Carl pointed to the large cannon that was still in front of an angry-looking Pinkie Pie.

"We have a party cannon." He said as he looked back at the officer.

(Yes I stole that from "The Avengers", great movie by the way).

"Okay," the officer laughed and looked up at Carl with contempt, "okay, I'll play along. What do you want me to tell you?"

"Discord's plan. What is it?" Carl asked.

"Like I'd tell you that." The officer muttered, "it's a surprise. And besides, who'd stop my from lying about it anyway?"

"Ahem." Applejack cleared her throat before stepping out in front of the restrained officer, "ah'm the element of honesty. Ah think ah can tell if yer lying."

"Just tell us, otherwise we'll unleash our wrath on you." Carl said, "and trust me when I say that we won't hold anything back. And in the situation that you're in, being tied down to a magic-proof chair, I'd say it's probably wise to just tell us what you know."

The officer roller his eyes, "Fine, Discord plans to take over both…"

"…Equestria and Earth, yes we know that." Rainbow Dash said with annoyance, "tell us how he plans to do it?"

"Did you even _see_ downtown?" The officer asked, "It's a war-zone. Discord has anarchists that will rise up, but not just here. All over the world his power is working its way into the minds of the desperate…much like the doubt that you six had in your elements allowed Discord to take control over you and reverse your traits. Soon he will have anarchist armies rising up in every corner of the globe."

"How is he going to accomplish this?" Carl asked.

"Some are swayed by his words and their own bad economic situations," the officer said with a smile, "but others need a little help. Oh they're desperate, they lost a job, they lost faith in the system and society, and it doesn't take much more effort for Discord to work his magic on them and manipulate their thinking and behavior."

"So what you're saying is that a lot of the anarchists are not doing their actions within their own free will, but they are being controlled?"

The officer chuckled and gave a small nod, "You're done. There's no stopping it now. The world's economy is in the toilet and people all over the world are listening to what's happening to Wilmont, and are becoming inspired, falling under Discord's control. Soon the entire world will fall to a chaos that it has never known…and with all of the world wars and other tragedies, that's saying something."

Carl sighed and looked at Twilight before Pete stepped forward, "How do we unfreeze our parents?"

The officer raised an eyebrow, "I'm sorry, I won't tell you that."

Carl smiled, "That's cool," he then turned to Twilight, "Fluttershy, he's all yours."

Fluttershy nodded and walked up to the officer with a scowl on her face, deciding to put her fear aside for the time being. She placed her hooves onto the officer's thighs and stared him straight in the eyes giving him…the stare.

"Listen here, what you and Discord are going is really mean and I usually am kind to everypony, but not when my friends' need my help. Tell them how to unfreeze their parents."

The officer was squirming and tried to close his eyes, but the stare was so intense that he couldn't. He was pulling back away from Fluttershy, but she would press her face right up to his. The officer couldn't take her teal eyes that bore into his soul anymore before he snapped, "Okay! Okay! You can use a normal unfreezing spell to free them." He said looking down at Twilight, "it isn't brain surgery I'm sure you could've figured it out."

"We just wanted to make sure. After all some spells have protective traps within them that could cause my spell to make things worse." Twilight said before nodding to Fluttershy, letting her know that she could get down from her position.

With that Carl chuckled, "Thank you for your cooperation, you've been such a wonderful help."

"Burn in the chaos of this reality you twelve ass-holes." The officer spat before looking away from Carl with an angry scowl. "None of you will walk out of this with your innocence. None!"

Twilight cringed at that as she remembered the chant from the night before, the chant that had horrified her. She shook off the thought and returned to Carl.

Carl stood up, as did Twilight. "Guys, let's leave this ass-hole to the chair." He added before starting out with Twilight, Alex, Ryan, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Applejack right on his heels. They all turned to leave the station, except James, who did not take his eyes off of the officer that was stuck in the chair; the officer that held one of Fluttershy's hooves as Brett neared her with his spell of doom. He slowly made his way into the interrogation room as everyone else was leaving.

Alex turned when he saw James walk by him, "James?"

James walked over to the officer and reached his hand out. Except his hand was now completely engulfed in his own, yellow, magical aura, which he then used to telepathically grab the officer's throat and begin to choke him. His angry eyes were now covered in a yellow glow and his mouth was grimacing as he clenched his teeth together as the police officer squirmed in the chair, his eyes bulging as he tried desperately to get air.

"James!" Carl shouted, "What are you doing!"

"What I should have done when Fluttershy was being threatened." He answered in a hate-filled, angry tone that even made Pinkie Pie shudder.

Everyone went in to grab James, only to gave James turn his head around to face them and hold out his other, free hand towards them, threatening them with more of his magic.

"Jesus Christ James!" shouted Alex, "are you insane?"

"I'm not insane, I just want to get even with this piece of trash."

Fluttershy, who was watching the entire scene play out, shook her head in disbelief at what James was doing and began to shake in fear.

"Fluttershy are you okay?" Rarity asked as she noticed the horrified look in her eyes.

"James…why is he doing this." She whimpered as tears began to fall from her eyes.

James kept staring right into Carl and Louis' eyes, as they were the ones at the front.

"James this isn't you." Carl muttered, but James kept staring at him, as the officer kept making small, gurgling noises. James was too busy to be choking him completely, but that didn't mean the feeling of invisible hands on his throat were any more comfortable.

Ryan took a step forward and walked over to James with a stern look on his face. "James…"

James quickly moved his hand to Ryan, so that the yellow was directly in his face, dancing around his desperate eyes. Ryan flinched for a second before he took a step closer to James' glowing hand and stared his friend directly in his aura-covered eyes.

"…James if you do this they win." Ryan muttered, "You are in chaos with yourself now and that's what Discord wants. You're supposed to be the Element of Kindness and you're choking someone who is completely powerless to defend himself. That's the complete opposite of kindness."

"You always say an eye for an eye," James spat, "Isn't that your conservative mantra?"

"Only when it needs to be done in self-defense," Ryan answered, "or when it's a serial killer on death row after a trial. This officer gave us the information we needed and that's it. Let's leave him."

James shook his head, "He threatened Fluttershy and I was too weak to do anything."

"It was the chair, James!" Ryan shouted.

"Do you have any idea what it's like to see the one you love…" James started only to have Ryan explode in rage.

"My parents were killed and Rainbow Dash almost was as well! I was in the same situation as you and I could have killed Lawrence in the hospital for what he did, but I didn't!" Ryan shouted before calming down, his eyes now slightly tear filled again, "James I held back from the man who killed my parents and threatened Dashie, you can restrain yourself from this."

"He deserves to die." James muttered.

"Yes he does," Ryan answered, "but he's not a threat while he's in that chair."

James turned and looked at the officer who was still struggling in his grip, eyes wide and pleading for mercy. Ryan looked back to see Fluttershy's head on the ground, her hooves over her ears and her eyes closed, as if she was hoping to somehow teleport out of the jail and not realize what James was doing.

"Look at what you're doing to Fluttershy." Ryan muttered.

James slowly turned around to see Fluttershy on the ground, crying in fright. James' expression softened and the magic slowly disappeared, his eyes now full of worry as he saw the innocent pony on the ground crying, the pony that he had professed his love for only a short time before. James finally calmed himself down so that all of his anger was gone and replaced by guilt. Guilt for how he frightened Fluttershy to the point of tears, something that he was about to kill this police officer for doing only a few hours before.

"James, we can't be violent in front of the girls," Ryan muttered, "they're too innocent for that and if we kill anyone when it isn't necessary, we'll corrupt them faster than they'll be from what they're going to see in the city."

James didn't respond to Ryan, instead he slowly walked over to Fluttershy and got onto his knee. He placed his hand onto her head so she looked up at him.

"Fluttershy I'm sorry." He muttered sadly.

Fluttershy lifted her head up and then proceeded to jump up to hug James. James was shaking and muttered, "I'm sorry" over and over again as his face was buried in Fluttershy's pink mane. Fluttershy tried to comfort him even though she, too, was upset.

Ryan closed his eyes and turned to the others, tears clearly shining.

"Come on let's go unfreeze your parents." He muttered before heading out. Everyone else, though taken aback by the sudden outburst of rage from James, followed. Pete and Pinkie Pie both helped James and Fluttershy up and out of the station, leaving an exhausted looking police officer in the chair, blood dripping from his mouth and his eyes half-closed in the exhaustion that the struggle had caused him.

Once the group of twelve got outside, they started towards Alex's SUV only to have Louis stop. "Wait! Not everyone can fit into your car!"

Alex pulled out a ring of keys that he managed to snag off of the restrained officer, "No worries, you can take a cruiser." He then tossed Louis the keys and got into his truck. After splitting up so six of them were in the SUV and six were crammed into the police cruiser, they headed off to the hotel to free Pete's parents and Carl's family.

Little did they know that a certain green chest was waiting for them to get back to the hotel. It was now open and revealing a small scroll that was hidden within it.

**Okay I hope you enjoyed that Chapter. Please let me know what you think of it.**

**Again, any issues please let me know. Thanks to leeroc101 for bringing the whole James issue to my attention. I planned on a way to explain it, but after I already posted the chapter on the interrogation scene with James and Fluttershy, I realized I needed an explanation. So thank you for reminding me.**

**Thanks for reading and, as always...**

**Go Giants! Go Rainbow Dash!**


	19. Chapter 19

****Chapter 19- The Holy Trinity and Driving Through Reality****

**Okay, I've been excited about writing this chapter for a while. It is darker, but I always enjoy writing action scenes so **

**Also got to go to a dinner last night where Eli Manning gave a speech and interview, which was pretty cool. Well, except for the fact that he was so far away that he might as well have been in NYC while I was home watching on television ha-ha.**

**Well, thanks for reading and reviewing so far and I only own my OCs.**

**Hotel- Night**

A little while after their escape from Discord's men at the police station, the group reached the hotel. Alex parked his car near the entrance, in the area that guests often pulled into before unloading all of their bags and luggage. Carl pulled the police cruiser up right behind Alex's SUV and stopped. Once everyone was outside, they began to make their way up to the rooms where Carl's family and Pete's parents were.

Now, Pete still wanted to unfreeze his parents, but he knew that they wanted nothing to do with him and he really did not want to walk into another shout down where he would get disowned for a second time. After all being disowned by his parents once was enough for him, and the knowledge that he had to go through it again was heart wrenching.

As they started up the stairs to the rooms, Pete looked down at Pinkie Pie, "Pinkie?"

She looked up at him with a smile, "Yeah? What is it Pete?"

"Can you…" Pete gulped and let out a sigh, "can you come with me to wake my parents up, please?"

Pinkie Pie nodded happily, "Of course! Hey, maybe we can convince them to change their mind about our relationship."

Pete nodded slowly, but he knew that course of action was not going to work. He knew that as soon as his parents woke up, they'd berate him just as they had before they were put under the spell and before.

Once they reached the floor that they wanted, everyone jogged off to the room where Carl's family was. Well, Carl's family plus one baby dragon stuck in mid-conversation, after being interrupted by the spell.

They got to the room and pushed the broken door open.

"Jesus what happened to the door?" Carl asked as he noticed some pieces of wood from the frame on the floor scattered on the floor, "It looks like it was kicked in, and Discord's men only opened the door."

"Are ya impressed?" Applejack asked with a grin.

Carl looked down at her and gave her a "not bad" face before walking into the room after Twilight. The three beings on the bed, Spike, Anna and Lisa, were, as predicted, still in the same position they had been in before Discord's men stormed the room after apparently using a key from downstairs to enter, as Applejack had to break the door. They were also still colorless. The television was now showing nothing but static, as the satellite dishes downtown were most likely destroyed from the riots.

Twilight shut her eyes and pointed her horn at Spike. "I hope this works." She muttered as her horn glowed purple and soon, color returned to the dragon and Carl's two sisters.

"…that Louis and Rarity aren't a good couple." Spike finished his statement that he was in the middle of speaking before he was frozen. He then looked around and put his claw to his head as if he had a headache, "What the…?"

Anna and Lisa both collapsed onto the bed in exhaustion and looked up at the ceiling.

"Ugh I feel like I just got back from a soccer tournament." Lisa groaned as she put her hand to her face. "Against the woman's U.S. national team."

"Same here." Anna replied in an equally exhausted manner.

Twilight ran over to the bathroom where Lauren was and did the same thing to her that she did to Spike and Carl's sisters. When the color returned to her, Lauren was still brushing her teeth until she suddenly realized something didn't feel right. The spell made her clueless as to what it was other than how sore she felt. She then looked down at Twilight and the mass of kids and ponies that were in her room, many of which she hadn't seen before.

"Um…when on Earth did this happen?" she asked with a mouth full of toothpaste before realizing that she was drooling. She quickly spat into the sink and washed her mouth out.

Suddenly she felt Carl hug her with such force that she felt like she was going to topple over. She looked down with a confused expression, "Um…okay?"

Carl looked up at her, "I'm sorry mom it's just good to see you back to normal."

"Back to normal?" she asked. "What do you mean back to normal?"

Carl sighed and Twilight stepped forward, "Maybe I should explain…" she began before Pinkie Pie went up to her and tapped her shoulder.

"Um Twi, I'm super sorry to interrupt, but could you pretty please unfreeze Pete's parents first?" she asked.

Twilight nodded and looked up at Lauren, "I'll be right back Mrs. Lewis."

With that, she trotted off to Pete's parents' room.

"While she's gone, let me get started in explaining everything to you mom." Carl began and Lauren nodded, still visibly shaken by being frozen, even if she didn't realize it yet.

Meanwhile, Twilight went into Pete's room to see his parents in the same position that they had been in when Pete went to see them with Alex. She walked up to Pete's parents and stopped, "Wow why…why are they crying?" she asked as she looked back at Pete, who was just looking down at the ground with a sad expression on his face before looking back at Twilight, "Unfreeze them and you'll find out." He muttered with a sadness that appropriately reflected his facial expression.

Twilight nodded and leaned into Pete's parents and unfroze them, only to have their color return and the sight of Pete's mother crying into Pete's father's shoulder. Except now it was audible, and now Pete's father looked up at Pete with his still hate-filled eyes.

"What are you doing back here?" he growled at his son, rather, his _former_ son.

"Saving you." Pete answered flatly.

"I told you before to get lost, and I thought that you listened." Pete's father growled, "You lack that much respect for me that you go against my wishes and come back?"

Pete didn't answer with anything other than an angry glare.

"Pete, why are you back here?" Pete's mother asked as she looked up at him with tear-filled eyes that now showed just as much contempt as his father's eyes did, "and why is that _thing_ here?" she asked pointing at Pinkie Pie, who just sat in a corner not saying anything up to this point. Of course, being addressed, she could no longer hold her tongue.

"Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds…" she began only to have Pete's mother cut her off in the meanest way possible.

"I don't want to hear anything from you monster!" She hissed, causing Pinkie's mane to deflate and her eyes to swell with tears. But the sight didn't stop Pete's mother, "You warped our son into a sicko and for that, my husband should teach you a lesson."

This was all Pete could take before stepping in front of her "Don't you dare threaten her!" He shouted while looking from his mother to his father, "neither of you will lay a hand on her, do you understand me!"

They were silent as Twilight and Pinkie Pie watched from near the doorway.

"I love Pinkie Pie and she loves me," Pete growled with a venomous tone, "and I don't care what you, or anyone else thinks. For the first time in my life all I care about is what I think about her, and what she thinks of me. Nobody else matters."

"It's wrong and disgusting to…" Began Pete's father before Pete cut him off with his hand.

"According to who? Society!" Pete shouted, "The same society that nit-picked everything that I had to say until I became a wall-flower, afraid of what people would think about me? The society that didn't care that I was sick, even when they thought I had cancer! Why should I give a fuck what they think when they only care about me when they want to degrade me!"

"How dare you," Pete's mother said angrily, "we were there when you were sick, we supported you…"

"And now you're proving that you were no better than anyone else!" Pete shouted, silencing both of his parents in shock at their usually timid son's outburst. Pete finished, "You don't have to disown me as your son, because in my eyes you aren't my parents anymore."

And with that, Pete turned to leave. He was about to exit the room when he stopped and looked down at Pinkie Pie. He got down onto his knee and looked at the still depressed mare in her tear filled-eyes.

"Pinkie Pie?" he asked with a comforting tone, even if his voice was still a little shaky from shouting down his parents.

She looked at him and gave a small sniffle. She didn't say anything but her face showed interest in what Pete was going to say.

Pete didn't say anything else, he just leaned in and planted a passionate kiss on her lips that he never thought he would have the courage to do. Pinkie's eyes shot open and her mane puffed back up. Twilight gasped and covered her mouth with her hoof as Pete's parents just stared blankly at the sight of their son making out with Pinkie Pie.

Pete and Pinkie hugged each other as they continued to kiss, Pete glaring up at his parents while still kissing Pinkie Pie, his eyes having a look that showed his contempt, and how his kissing wasn't just his means of cheering up the pony that they had hurt, but also an action that was equivalent to telling them "_fuck you"_. He broke the kiss and stood up. Pinkie Pie looked much more cheerful and her face red with her blush as she stood up from her sitting position as well. Pete looked back at his parents one last time before he stormed out, both Pinkie and Twilight on his heels.

Before she left, however, Pinkie Pie managed to tauntingly stick her tongue out at Pete's parents, who were now frozen in place. Not by magic, but by the shock that Pete had given them by showing his love for Pinkie.

Pete shut the door behind him and looked down at Pinkie Pie, who looked back up at him. "Was that a real kiss or was it just to get back at your parents?"

Pete got down again to her eye-level so he was mere centimeters away from her face, "Both."

He then kissed her in the same way he had in his parent's room. As they were making out, Twilight giggled and trotted back to Carl's room, deciding to leave them alone. Outside of Carl's room, Rarity and Louis were sitting against the wall. Louis was practicing his aura, which was white, like Rarity, by thinking about her. The white light danced around his fingertips and his eyes also glowed in the same, white colored light for a second before he stopped. Rarity began to clap her hooves together.

"That was quite impressive Louis." Rarity said wit a grin.

Louis looked back at her and smiled, "Well I have you to thank. After all, I can do this because I'm thinking of you."

Rarity blushed and waved her hoof as if to brush it off, "Oh you."

Twilight walked by them and entered the room to see Carl talking to his mom and sisters. Spike was also listening, but when he saw Twilight come back in, he hopped off of the bed and ran over to her.

"Twilight! Oh wow, I was listening to Carl's story." He said with a look of worry, "Are you all right? Sorry I didn't ask earlier I had no idea what happened."

"It's okay Spike." Twilight answered with a smile, "I'm fine and I'm glad that you're safe."

As they talked, Fluttershy and James were both in the bathroom. James still felt guilty for scaring her so much, and Fluttershy was trying to make him feel better.

"I'm sorry I almost lost myself back there Fluttershy," James muttered sadly, "I almost lost myself to my rage and…I hurt you emotionally."

"James it's okay." Fluttershy said as she placed her hoof onto his thigh, "I understand your frustrations and feelings towards that pony, and I am happy you feel so strongly about me."

"Yeah but I should have remembered that you were there," James said, "and should have known that you'd want me to be the bigger man."

Fluttershy nodded and a smile and they hugged.

"James you'll always be the kindest boy I know." She whispered back to console him.

Back outside of the bathroom, Alex was pounding the television, trying to get a station to work, any station.

"God-damn it." He muttered.

"Need a hand?" Ryan asked as he turned away from the window. He and Rainbow Dash had been looking outside at the distant fires in the city, Rainbow Dash had a scowl on her face while Ryan just stared unemotionally at the destruction before he turned to Alex.

"No…I…" Alex gave the television one last channel change when he finally reached a local news station that wasn't all static, "…got it."

Alex sat down on the carpeted floor beside Applejack, who had been watching Alex trying to work the television. Both of them watched in shock as images of downtown Wilmont came up on the screen while the news reporter went on about it.

"_The destruction in downtown Wilmont continues tonight as the rioters are now fighting against military forces after an attempt by the Buffalo S.W.A.T. team failed to take down Mayor Christopher Drocsid earlier tonight."_

"Wow." Applejack muttered in shock before Alex grabbed the remote.

"Okay let's see what else is on that isn't depressing."

He changed the television that had once been TBS, but now only showed images of destruction and chaos, but it wasn't images of Wilmont that were being presented.

It was Rome.

Alex's jaw dropped as the male reporter went on, _"Again this is breaking news as anarchist forces have grown all over the world. From a small city in Upstate New York, to the capital of Italy."_

Alex changed the channel to show another news report, this one covering Los Angeles.

"_Fire has engulfed the entire city and people are evacuating on the packed Highways, to get as far away from the city as possible."_

"It's everywhere," Alex muttered, "It's not just Wilmont, it's the entire world."

"From humanity's desperation, chaos can arise." Ryan muttered without moving from the window.

"What?" Alex asked without looking away from the television. Applejack meanwhile was just staring at the screen in shock as the images of anarchists firing guns and destroying property with their bombs and Molotov cocktails flashed on the screen.

"Just like in Nazi Germany," Ryan continued, "evil and chaos arises when people are desperate. Like when the economy sucks, and unemployment is high. Like it was here."

"I don't understand why that would cause anypony to resort to violence like this." Rainbow Dash said as she looked up at Ryan, who continued to look out the window.

"Dashie I've told you how this world is different than Equestria," Ryan muttered, "people resort to horrible means to survive when they're desperate, oftentimes pinning the blame on others while ignoring the actual cause. You should know how violent people are." Ryan gestured to Rainbow Dash's bandaged wings.

"What's the actual cause of their issues?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Depends on the society." Ryan muttered, "but my parents weren't the cause, and neither were the people that lived in my neighborhood. That didn't stop them from taking the blame, though, and it cost them their lives."

"But ain't Discord controlling them?" Applejack asked as she finally looked away from the television to look at Ryan. Alex turned the television off and shook his head muttering, "Fuck this world" over and over again.

"Not all of them," Ryan answered, "and I wouldn't be surprised if defeating him doesn't change a damn thing about the anarchist gangs; I actually expect us to only stop a small amount of the violence and hopefully it'll be shrunken enough for the army to put an end to."

Applejack walked over to the window to join Ryan and Rainbow Dash. Alex stood up and did the same.

"Twilight I want to come with you!" Spike complained after Twilight had told him to leave town with Carl's family.

"Spike no," she said in a demanding voice, "you're going with Carl's family. I'll tell the Princess to bring you back to Equestria when we're done."

"But Twi…"

"But nothing Spike," Twilight said before sighing, "Spike, I care too much about you to let you be in the danger we're going to find ourselves in. This world isn't Equestria, trust me." Twilight said as she closed her eyes, the horrors from that night flashing through her mind. The chanting, the sky aglow with the orange tint of fire and destruction, and chaos before she opened them and looked back at Spike, "Don't complain. Please just go with them, you'll be safe. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something happened to you."

Spike looked like he was on the verge of tears when he ran up to Twilight and hugged her, "I don't want you to get hurt either." He said sadly as tears began to roll down his cheeks onto Twilight's violet fur. "You're like my sister, and I'd hate to see something bad happen to you."

She patted the small, crying dragon on the back to reassure him, "Nothing will Spike; I promise."

Carl, simultaneously, was telling his mother and sisters to get out of town.

"Where do you want us to go?" Anna asked.

"Away, just get away from all cities for now. Binghamton should be fine. Go to Uncle Damien's and stay with him until this blows over." Carl said.

"What about you." Lauren asked nervously. Carl closed his eyes and sighed, knowing that his mother would hate what he had to say.

"I have to fight Mom." He said, "If I don't, the world's done. Not just Wilmont, not just New York, the world."

Lauren nodded in understanding before looking at Anna and Laura, "Grab your stuff girls, we have to get out of here"

They nodded and proceeded to pack up their things to leave the hotel. Carl sighed and decided that since he was going into battle, now would be the best time to break the news to his mom about his relationship with Twilight, even if he wasn't quite ready to do so yet.

"Mom, wait." He said as Lauren stopped packing for a second and looked at her son with a worried expression, like she feared that he'd say something bad.

"What is it Carl, what's wrong?"

Carl took a deep breath, "It's about me and Twilight," he could feel the pressure rising in his eyes as tears tried to push their way out even though he was doing everything to keep them back, "I…I love…I…"

Lauren put her hand out to stop Carl from continuing. Carl looked into his mother's eyes, her kind, comforting eyes and smiling face, as she said what he never expected her to say, "I know, Carl. And I'm okay with it."

Carl raised an eyebrow and Lauren put her hands onto Carl's shoulders, "Carl you found a girl that loves you just as much as you love her, that's rare to find at any point on one's life, and from experience I know that you cannot let someone you love get away from you." Carl could see her tearing up herself as she remembered Carl's father, and how he had died right when they had fixed their relationship and realized how they never stopped loving each other.

Carl also couldn't hold back and he fell into Lauren and cried into her, mumbling "Thanks mom." to her. He also eventually started to smile as the pain of his father gave in to the relief for his mother's acceptance.

Twilight had been watching this from where she was sitting on the bed, next to Spike, and smiled at the sight, knowing that the tears were more joyful now, before she turned back to the sight of Alex, Ryan, Applejack and Rainbow Dash looking out of the window She could see the glow of orange that had haunted her mind since she was in the cell earlier that night.

Eventually, Carl's mother and sisters, and Spike, all left. Pete's parents were gone as well, but there was no emotional "good-bye" for them, only a teenage son that went from being timid and nervous about what other people thought about him, to being more of his old self. In fact, he began to joke around with Pinkie Pie a bit after they left by doing what he did best before the high school society silenced him; saying whatever came to his mind as they both sat in the hallway outside of the room that his parents were in earlier.

Unlike all of his past "friends", Pinkie Pie loved hearing him come out of his shell and say his own random jokes and sayings that often made no sense. Louis and Rarity, who were still in the hall as well. Watched as they talked and talked.

Louis' eyebrow raised, "So much for being shy."

"Oh that's just what Pinkie Pie does Louis," Rarity said with a chuckle, "she will bring even the most quiet and coy pony…or person in this case…out of their shell. She truly is remarkable like that."

"Ahem!"

Louis, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Pete all turned their attention to James, who was standing in the doorway of Carl's room.

"You guys might want to come in here now."

With that, the four beings all got up and went into Carl's room to see why James had told them to come in. Inside, they saw everyone and everypony around one of the beds as Twilight stared down at something on the mattress.

"What are you guys doing?" Louis asked as they approached the group.

"The chest opened while we were gone," Carl answered, "inside there's a scroll with a message on it."

"Really?" Pinkie Pie asked before she bolted to the mattress and pushed her way in-between Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.

"Oh my, careful Pinkie." Fluttershy said as the pink mare pushed her to the ground.

"Geez Pinkie! Don't shove us!" Rainbow Dash said in a sterner way before shoving Pinkie Pie back, but Pinkie just ignored it and continued to peer onto the mattress.

"What does it say?" Pinkie Pie asked as she leaned closer to the piece of paper that was on the mattress. Suddenly the paper levitated into the air up to Twilight's level and she began to read it.

"In a time of chaos, in a world that thrives off of it. Twelve elements, bound by friendship and love, will bring harmony. Their elements found in places bound to their traits. Magic and Honesty found in profession. Loyalty and Friendship found in recreation. Generosity and Laughter found in relaxation. Three places equally spaced, three places entwined in importance. The magic of love will be the guide, to the location of the elements."

Twilight looked around the paper at everyone and everypony.

They were all confused, and quite honestly Alex summed up the confusion by simply saying, "What the fuck does that mean?"

"It sounds like a prophecy," Fluttershy said confidently before retreating to her usual, unsure self, "um…or maybe it isn't."

"No Fluttershy, it is a prophecy." Twilight said with a nod, "but I can't make heads or tails of it. All I know is that it seems to tell us where our elements are."

"And where would that be?" Applejack asked.

"Wherever it is," Twilight, said as she scratched her chin with her hoof, "they seem to represent profession, reflection and relaxation. And they're equally spaced."

"That doesn't help us at all." Pete muttered.

"Yes it does," Carl, said before looking up at the others, who all gave him confused stares.

"How do ya reckon?" Alex asked, not realizing he slipped into his southern accent until the words already came out of his mouth. "God-damn it." He muttered in realization of his slip as Applejack just looked up at him and chuckled.

"It's the Holy Trinity."

"What?" Ryan asked.

"Wait, what's the Holy Trinity?" Louis asked.

"That actually makes perfect sense." James said with a nod, "yeah because don't they represent profession, recreation…"

"…and relaxation, yes." Carl finished his sentence. Louis just looked around at all five boys who seemed to understand what Carl was going on about, making Louis feel annoyed that he was left out.

"Will someone please explain to me what the fuck the Holy Trinity is?" Louis asked.

"It's the three places in Wilmont that are in a triangular shape and spaced out by about a mile and a half." Carl muttered, "Each one represents the three mains parts of the average teenager's life."

"It's a running joke we have at Wilmont High, which explains why a private-school kid like you wouldn't get it." Ryan said looking at Louis.

"That's a joke? But that's not very funny." Pinkie Pie said with skepticism.

"We can't all be as wacky as you," Carl said with a chuckle, "anyway profession is Wilmont High School, because that's where a teenager's main job is, school."

Rainbow Dash leaned into Twilight and whispered, "Learning as a profession?" she then nudged Twilight, "It's perfect for you Twi." Twilight just glared at Rainbow Dash who looked away, but was smiling in a teasing way.

"And recreation is Wilmont Park since that's where most non-school-sponsored sporting events are held." Carl added.

"Perfect for meatheads like you." Twilight teased Rainbow Dash, making the rainbow-maned mare's eyes widen as she turned to Twilight.

"Hey come on!" Rainbow Dash complained.

"What, I'm just getting even with you for your insult." Twilight said, as she looked away, her eyes closed and a big, accomplished smile on her face.

"Please, egghead is almost a compliment."

"How so?" Twilight asked.

"Girls!" Carl shouted, drawing Twilight and Dash's attention. Both girls' heads were side-to-side as they looked at Carl. "May I continue?" Carl asked.

"Sorry." Both girls muttered.

"Thank you," Carl said before letting out a sigh of relief, "Now, the last place is relaxation, which is the mall."

"Ugh, the mall again?" Alex groaned, "Why does it seem like all roads go back to the mall?"

"Because we've been there a lot with the girls?" Ryan asked.

Alex groaned and rubbed his temples in annoyance. "Thank you Captain Obvious." He muttered

"So," Fluttershy said as she took a small step towards Carl, "do we…um…split up?"

Carl nodded, "Yes." He then looked down at Twilight, "Twilight and I will go to the school with Alex and Applejack."

He looked up at Pete, Pinkie Pie, Louis and Rarity, who were all surprisingly in the same place, "Pete, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Louis, you go to the mall."

He finally looked over to James and Fluttershy, "And James and Fluttershy, you go with Ryan and Rainbow Dash to the park."

Twilight proceeded to use her magic to copy the prophecy into two other copies before levitating one over to Ryan and the other over to Louis. She kept the main copy floating in front of her.

"Here's a copy of the prophecy for each of you in case you need to re-read it." Twilight said with a smile.

They nodded until Ryan spoke up, "Wait! We don't have a car! My truck burned with my neighborhood and my parents'…." He stopped and took a deep breath. Even though he was suppressing his sadness quite well for the group, Ryan was still mourning his parents. "…my parents' BMW is back at the hotel I stayed at."

Carl turned to Twilight, "Twi, could you teleport them to the park?"

Twilight shook her head, "No I can only teleport myself and other things to places that I know the location, and I don't know where the park's location well enough."

"So you can't teleport us to the school then, right?" Carl asked and Twilight shook her head.

"What about us to the mall?" Louis piped up, "You've been there a few times."

Twilight groaned, "Ugh, I usually only teleport short distances! If it's long distances it has to be to someplace that I know well otherwise you could get dropped out of a portal someplace way off."

"So you teleport with portals?" Ryan asked.

"Yes, but why is that relevant?" Twilight groaned.

"I just wasn't sure what method your magic teleportation spells used to get from place to place, whether it was portals or de-atomization or whatever." Ryan said with a shrug, "it was just a question I've had for a while. The idea of breaking up into individual atoms freaks me out."

"Wait Carl you teleported that police truck maybe…" James began but Carl shook his head.

"No I'm not going to risk everyone by teleporting them. What if we wind up in Kentucky or something?" Carl said defiantly, "no I don't have the experience to pull it off yet."

Ryan then looked back at Carl, "That still doesn't change the fact that we lack a car. You have your sedan downstairs and Louis has his car. We have nothing…except Alex's SUV." Ryan said as he looked at Alex.

"Oh no," Alex said as he shook his head, "you are _not_ taking my car."

"Why not, we don't have an option!" Ryan shouted.

"Dude, just use the police cruiser!" Alex shouted. "You still have the keys to that!"

Ryan shrugged, "Well...it's just an SUV would be more useful if we were being chased and…"

"Okay fine." Alex rolled his eyes and tossed the keys to his truck to Ryan, "You're a little bitch, you know that?"

Ryan looked down at the keys and smirked before looking back up at Alex and jingling them in front of his face, "Yes and now I'm a little bitch with a badass truck."

"Well, I'm glad that's settled." James said with a sigh, "May we get going?"

Everyone nodded and started to leave the hotel room. Ryan was on his way out when Alex stopped him in his tracks by grabbing his shoulder. Ryan looked at Alex who pointed at him with his pointer finger, "If you get one scratch on my car, I'll get Twilight to personally de-atomize your ass to the moon."

Ryan nodded and walked out of the room, followed by Alex. Behind them, Rainbow Dash leaned to Applejack and whispered, "Does Alex know that it's the Princess that banishes people to the moon in jokes?"

"Ah don't know just keep movin'." Applejack answered as they continued down the hall.

The last ones out of the room were none other than Carl and Twilight, and Carl had another question for Twilight.

"Hey Twi, let me ask you, when did you and the girls defeat Discord?"

"Autumn of this past year." She muttered, "Why?"

"Just curious. So Equestria and Earth both have the same timeline?" Carl asked. "A day here is a day there?"

"Yes."

"And your brother got married to Princess Cadence about two months ago?" ***(Remember this is late June of this year since they are rising seniors in High School and school in NY ends around June 14-20th)**

"Yes."

"Hang on, one more question Twi," Carl continued as they reached the staircase and began to descend the flight, "Discord has been our mayor for two years, and he's lived in Wilmont for eight, yet you said that you fought him less than a year ago. How is that possible?"

"Discord split his soul in two, send one half here and kept one half in Equestria." Twilight added before looking up at Carl, "sorry if I forgot to elaborate on the whole "his soul is here" fact when I first met you."

"You mean after I passed out in my room?" Carl asked as they reached the ground floor. Twilight chuckled and gave a nod.

"Right, now are you done asking questions or are you all set?"

"No I'm good." Carl said before Twilight laughed a bit more.

They all ran out to the cars and got in. Once everyone was settled, they drove off towards the city. Carl's car was, obviously at the head of the group, and behind him was Alex's SUV, which Ryan was driving ever so carefully after the threat that Alex had given him.

And by ever so carefully, I mean purposely driving erratically right behind Carl's car so Alex saw him and got aggravated.

Alex, who was sitting in one of the back seats of Carl's car, rolled the window down and shouted back at Ryan, "Ryan you are an ass-hole!"

He pulled his head back in and sighed, rubbing his temples in aggravation.

And, finally, behind Ryan and James was Louis' car driven by, obviously, Louis.

In Carl's car, Carl was keeping his eyes on the road ahead, but didn't just keep his focus on them. He was looking out at the downtown area that was engulfed in fire. As they got closer, he suddenly got worried.

"_I can't just bring the girls through a war-zone."_ He thought in worry as he approached the bridge that led into the city. He knew that once in the city, they would have to split up and go their separate ways to avoid suspicion, and they would be driving into a city that was on fire, that the military was flooding and fighting in against a group of murderous anarchists that had explosives and guns.

They would be getting a first taste of our world in all of it's "glory", concentrated into one, small place.

And their innocence would be lost, and they would be scarred for life.

When he saw what looked like tanks and military vehicles in the city; that was the last straw.

"_We can't do this yet."_ Carl thought and just before they reached the bridge he slammed the brakes on his car. Ryan, who was following closely in order to piss off Alex, swerved and slammed the brakes on Alex's car to avoid hitting Carl.

Louis screeched to a stop inches from Alex's SUV, and therefore saved Ryan's hide.

"What the fuck Carl, why did you stop!" Louis shouted before opening the door and stepping out of his car, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Oh now Louis don't be brash." Rarity said as she sat back up in her seat after being whiplashed from the quick stop, "I'm sure he has a perfectly good reason."

"Um, Rarity." Pete muttered as he pointed to her mane. She turned to see him pointing at her mane. She looked up and, now scared, grabbed the rearview mirror to get a better look at what Pete was pointing at.

When she saw her reflection, she gasped. Her mane was askew and messed up from Louis slamming the brakes on the car, which, as previously mentioned, caused her head to jolt forward and, with it, her perfectly styled mane. Her face turned red and steam appeared to be coming out of her ears.

"CARL!" she shouted before opening the car door with her magic and storming out in a huff before slamming the door behind her with her magic. "Carl you messed up my mane! I'm going to buck you where the sun doesn't shine for this!"

Pete smacked his face as Pinkie Pie leaned to him, "I think you may have made her a little mad."

Outside, Louis stormed up to Carl's car to see that Alex was standing outside and holding his hand up. Rarity also stormed up and stood beside Louis with an angry look on her face.

"Hang on, Carl need to talk to us guys." He said, "It's about the girls."

Louis stopped and looked to see Carl hunched over the steering wheel with his eyes closed and his hands gripping the wheel so tightly that his knuckles turned red.

"Carl, are you all right?" Twilight asked as she sat next to Carl in the passenger seat, "why do you need to talk to us?"

"Twi, go outside." Carl muttered before looking up at her with tears in his eyes, "I'll be out in a minute."

She nodded and got out of the car. Carl proceeded and motioned for the guys to follow him.

A minute later, all of the guys were huddled up and talking to each other while the girls waited outside to see what the hold-up was all about.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Fluttershy asked.

"Maybe they're going over different ways to get into the city?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"No, no I don't think that's it." Twilight muttered as she kept watching Carl as he talked to the others.

"Then what is it?" Applejack asked.

"I have no idea." Twilight muttered with some worry while not taking her eyes off of the boys. "But I don't think it's good."

Meanwhile, in the group of guys, Carl had just told them what the needed to do, and that is warn the girls about what they were going to see.

"Is that necessary?" Louis asked.

"Yes," Carl muttered, "guys, they come from a world where the worst battles involve punches and party cannons. What they're going to see down there are guns, fire, death…everything that's horrible about our world in one place."

"You're right," James muttered, "after all they're too innocent to go into that warzone without any warning."

"So how should we tell them?" Ryan asked.

Carl sighed and stood up and walked over to the girls. All six of them looked up at Carl, whose face showed how serious the situation was.

"Carl what's wrong?" Twilight asked.

Carl took a deep breath in, and then exhaled before looking down at Twilight, his mare-friend, his innocent, sweet mare-friend that he loved with all of his heart, and who he never wanted to see terrified.

And he was afraid that she'd lose all of her innocence after what they were about to do.

"Twilight just to make sure you really can't teleport us to the other side of the city so we don't have to go through it?"

She shook her head, "No. I don't know Earth well enough to teleport long distances here."

Carl nodded, "Okay because what you see when you go down there is going to impact you six more than you can imagine."

"Oh how? Is it fun, like an amusement park ride? Like the ride of chaos?" Pinkie Pie said excitedly. "That would make a really fun attraction at the Grand Galloping…"

"Pinkie this is serious." Carl muttered harshly before calming himself down. "Girls, there's a reason why so many guys watch your show. Many people watch it simply for entertainment, but others…like us, we watch it for you girls…and the escapism your adventures give us. I know I've told you this already but I think it's deeper than you understand."

"What do ya mean?" Applejack asked.

"There's a reason so many people in the military are bronies." Carl said, "at least that's what I've heard. It's because your adventures are so innocent and fun. And even when you girls are in danger we all know it'll work out. Not to mention you're all more pure in your hearts than anyone in this world over the age of ten."

"Carl we know how you guys use…." Twilight began but Carl cut her off.

"No Twi, you don't. You've never seen our version of fighting…our version of war…like what's going on down there." He said pointing to the city.

"Our wars are chaos," Alex added, "I'm not sure how you guys fought wars, if you have any, but I can guarantee they are nowhere near as horrifying or…tragic as ours."

The girls all looked at the boys with confusion, except Twilight, that is, because she now looked worried as the chanting and fire-lit night sky filled her mind, causing her to shake in fear.

"We have to go through the city to get to the suburbs, and to our elements." Carl said, "If we don't, it'll take way too long. I just want to warn you girls that what you see down there…if you lost faith in our world, please don't lose faith in all of humanity, because that's not representative of us as a whole."

"And please don't lose your innocent nature." Ryan added, looking at Rainbow Dash's wings, scared about how much of her innocence had been lost.

The girls nodded, but it seemed like only Rainbow Dash and Twilight had somewhat of an idea about how horrendous the warzone city would be. Everypony else just seemed befuddled or worried.

"We won't." Twilight said, "you six have been great to us, we could never lose our faith in you or humanity as a whole."

"Yeah and we won't be altered mentally if that's what you're worried about." Rarity said, "I'm sure we'll be able to handle it."

Carl nodded, "I hope you can."

After that, they split back up into their groups, but now each car had a different method.

In Carl's car, Carl and Alex were in the front seat while Twilight and Applejack took the backseat.

"Girls I want you to stay down; close your eyes and cover your ears." Carl ordered. Twilight and Applejack nodded and did just that.

In Alex's car, Rainbow Dash sat in the passenger seat next to Ryan so that James could sit back with Fluttershy, as she would most likely be the most scared out of all six of the girls and needed James to be by her. Ryan turned to Rainbow Dash, "Okay Dashie I want you to..."

"I'm not cowering from this Ryan," she answered as she looked at him with stern eyes, "I can handle this."

"You don't have to be brave all of the time." Ryan said and Rainbow Dash nodded.

"I know," She then turned back to she was looking out through the windshield. "But I saw the news and I know what to expect down there." She said, referring to the horrifying images of Leigh Heights that she had seen on the television earlier that day.

Ryan sighed in defeat, knowing that he'd never convince her to listen to him. He turned to James and Fluttershy, "James keep her down and talk to her."

"No problem." James answered as he got down and began to whisper comforting things to Fluttershy, who was cowering on the back seat, scared out of her mind about all of the things that were possibly awaiting them down in the city.

In Louis' car, Pete was in the back with Pinkie.

"Pinkie, I want you to cover your ears, close your eyes and sing s loudly as you can every song that you've sung until I tell you to stop."

Pinkie Pie grinned, "Really!"

Pete put on a fake smile and nodded as Pinkie jumped up, "Yay!"

"Rarity I want you to do the same." Louis said but Rarity shook her head.

"No Louis, I intend to see what Carl was talking about and see how much he has exaggerated everything."

"He didn't exaggerate Rarity." Louis sighed and shook his head, "Please, you don't have to sing, but cover your ears and close your eyes. If you don't you'll regret it."

She rolled her eyes, "Fine."

She then covered her ears and closed her eyes.

In Carl's car, Carl let out a deep sigh and turned to Alex, who looked back at him with a nervous look before giving his friend a small nod, "It's time." Alex said flatly.

Carl nodded back and slowly started across the bridge before accelerating to the normal speed of about forty miles-per-hour. Behind him, Ryan was keeping his distance, not "horsing around" to piss off Alex anymore, as this was no time to joke. Behind him, Louis was also cautiously crossing the bridge as Pinkie Pie was singing her "Giggle at the Ghosty" song to start of her sing-a-thon.

Carl looked out of the drivers' side window to see the city coming closer and closer on his left, the fires burning in every part of the city.

"Try to avoid the main roads, it'll probably be less chaotic." Alex muttered, but Carl was already trying to find the least chaotic way through the city, but no matter where his eyes landed, he saw a fire burning or military vehicles fighting against mobs of anarchists.

"I don't think that's going to help." Carl muttered as he finished crossing the bridge and continued forward until they reached a division in the road, the one directly in front of the car had tanks blowing up anarchists who were either shooting at them with their own guns, or firing while driving closer to the tanks in cars and trucks that they had converted into makeshift war vehicles. Carl took a sharp turn to the left, hoping that the street he turned down would be less chaotic.

He was wrong.

As soon as he turned, about a block away, a small shop exploded into fire as a tank shot a round at a group of rebels that had turned the store into a bunker that they were firing at the army from. They were right back in the middle of a warzone. The bodies of the anarchists went flying from the shop. But like many pests, killing a few only angered the rest, who swarmed over and began to put all of their effort into destroying the tank with their guns and homemade explosives. Carl and the others were on the same side of the road as the army, which was fortunate as it meant they weren't completely surrounded by the anarchist forces.

As soon as Carl saw the fire and war going on around him on the street he was on, he panicked and sped off down another road, which was slightly less chaotic than the one they were just on, but not much.

Ryan tried to follow Carl, but a tank that was taken over by anarchists after they had killed the operator fired at a building that was at the corner of the road that Carl turned down. Ryan brought his car to a stop just before the dust from the explosion reached him.

Rainbow Dash just kept staring, but her mouth was open and her eyes were unblinking. Ryan realized that the five-story building that had been shot was now starting to tip over. The fires that engulfed it had weakened its structure significantly, and the last tank shell that was fired at it was the last bit of force it needed before it could no longer support its own weight. Ryan quickly sped off down the road where the war was occurring to avoid the collapsing building. Louis wasn't far behind as the building that was shot crumbled to the earth, sending a massive dust cloud down the street after Louis and Ryan, almost like a small, volcanic cloud of ash.

"What's that noise!" Fluttershy screamed fearfully from the back of the truck after she heard the building collapse and gunfire surround them, even though her eyes were thankfully still closed, so she still couldn't see the horrible sights around her.

"It's nothing Fluttershy," James said reassuringly before he leaned up to Ryan and whispered, "Get us the fuck out of here."

"What do you think I'm trying to do!" Ryan screamed back as he looked up, watching as anarchists began to chase after them, firing bullets into Alex's truck. Before entering the warzone, the only damage to the car was the broken window that Applejack shattered to save Alex from his stepfather. Now, only after about thirty seconds in battle, the windshield was cracked, two more windows were broken and there were bullet holes riddled on the side of the truck.

Louis' car wasn't faring much better. As Pinkie changed songs and began her "Smile" song, Louis was busy trying to get them out of the hell-storm. Rarity had already opened her eyes and took her hooves away from her ears out of curiosity, only to immediately regret doing so when she saw the dust cloud from the destroyed building behind them surround Louis' car, making them lose sight of Ryan in the grey dust.

"Shit, I can't see anything." Louis muttered.

"Where'd Ryan go?" Pete asked as the dust began to seep into the car through the cracked windows, causing everyone to start gagging, including Pinkie Pie, who had stopped singing as it became harder to breathe. She opened her eyes and her happy expression that she had while singing disappeared as the car finally burst through the dust to be met with the sight of more fire, destruction and anarchists. A military Jeep was overturned and on fire, while a fire hydrant was destroyed, sending a long, powerful, continuous blast of water into the air as they drove by.

"What is this!" Rarity shouted in horror as she watched a soldier get shot execution-style on the side of the street.

"Rarity! I told you to close your eyes!" Louis shouted angrily, even though he was more worried about her innocence and safety at the moment than angry at her disobedience.

But Rarity didn't even bother responding as she saw an anarchist running over to the car with a lit Molotov cocktail.

"Louis!" she screamed as she pointed her hoof at the anarchist with the bomb. Louis saw him and, instead of stop like the man in Leigh Heights did, Louis accelerated his car and smashed into the teenager, causing him to roll over the top of Louis' car and drop the explosive onto one of his comrades, setting both of them on fire.

Pinkie Pie looked back and saw the two teenagers rolling around in the fire until they were both motionless.

Pete was no longer looking at the war outside; instead he was looking down at Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie Pie?"

Pinkie didn't respond, she just covered her ears and closed her eyes before she sunk back into the seat and began to cry. But not in her exaggerated, gallon of tears, Pinkie Pie way. She just cried softly, as if she was too sad to even let out loud, comical sobs as she did in the show.

In the front seat, Rarity wasn't crying like Pinkie Pie was, but she was just as horrified. In fact, she was so scared that she _couldn't_ cry at all. Her eyes were wide and her hooves were covering her mouths as she began to slightly hyperventilate.

**With Ryan**

Ryan had lost sight of Louis and now knew that all three groups were on their own to find their way out of the battle. James was in the back, leaning over Fluttershy to both protect her and whisper comforting things to her, how he was there for her, how nothing bad would happen to her. James hoped it helped her feel better, even though he knew that she wasn't completely safe in this situation.

Ryan kept driving, making sure to avoid all gunfire that he could, until he was finally able to turn down an alley. He sped down the dark, musty space between two buildings, both of which were on fire, and stopped when he felt like he was safe from the majority of the battle. He turned to Rainbow Dash to ask if she was okay, only to see her still looking straight ahead, eyes not blinking and face unemotional, yet still sad.

"D-Dashie?" Ryan asked as he tapped her shoulder. She slowly turned to Ryan and her eyes began to fill with tears before she lunged at him and wrapped her forelegs around him, sobbing into his shoulder. Her body was shaking, and Ryan's heart broke at the sight. Here was the normally strong and brave Rainbow Dash, never afraid of anything and always so stoic, reduced to a heap of tears and fear. Not even her fear before the Young Fliers' competition was close to matching the sadness and terror she had now, and Ryan knew that. He hugged her back, "It's okay Dashie, it is okay we're going to get out of this."

She looked up at him, "This…this is chaos in your world?" she whispered and Ryan nodded, "But…but this is even worse than what I saw on the news."

"This is why we need escapism like your show." Ryan muttered before Rainbow Dash began to cry some more, falling into Ryan's embrace again.

Ryan began to rub her back again while she cried to comfort her. He looked back at James, who was crying as well. Fluttershy's eyes were still closed, but she was also in tears, as if the noise and imagined horror was enough, and the horrors she imagined still were no match for what they drove through.

"Are we safe?" Fluttershy asked as she tried to open her eyes, only to have James put his hand over them.

"No Fluttershy not yet. Ryan…" James said as he looked up at Ryan, "…get us out of here…please"

Ryan nodded and broke his hug of Rainbow Dash before looking her in the eyes, "Dashie…." She was still crying and didn't hear Ryan. Ryan sighed, "Rainbow Dash…"

She looked up at him, "…now will you listen to me and close your eyes and cover your ears?"

She nodded and proceeded to curl up into the seat with her eyes closed and her ears covered. Ryan felt awful for her, and how their reality had made both girls so frightened, especially Rainbow Dash.

Ryan turned his attention forward and drove back into the chaos.

**Carl's Car**

Carl had hoped that driving down the less chaotic street would mean an easier drive out of the city. Turned out, however, that they eventually found themselves in an even worse area, where there were clearly two sides fighting. Jeeps, tanks and other military vehicles amassed on one half of the street; soldiers shooting from the ground were around these vehicles as well. On the other side of the street, the anarchists fought with a line of their own vehicles, specially equipped with guns and tank parts they had quickly managed to screw on from tanks that they had overtaken and broken apart so the parts could be utilized. Hell, the anarchists had about two tanks on their side that, apparently, some of them knew how to operate quite well. Not only that, but they even managed to put a turret on the back of a Chevy pick-up truck.

"Carl!" Alex shouted as a tank on the anarchist's side made it's way forward, its barrel pointed directly at Carl's car. Carl quickly turned into a building that had windows on the ground floor. The sedan went straight through the glass, but Carl didn't stop once he was inside. In fact, he drove through the building, knocking over everything in his path. He went be elevators, information desks, and even a lounge, until he managed to smash through the other end of the building and turn just as the shell from another tank destroyed the building right in front of them. He turned quickly to avoid the debris, only to have the windshield of his car get blown to bits.

He could hear Twilight and Applejack in the backseat scream at the sudden explosion followed by shattered glass. Neither Carl nor Alex got any glass in their eyes, but some glass did hit them. Alex had two slices on his cheek and forehead that were bleeding while Carl's lip was gushing blood. He quickly went down another street to avoid more chaos and, finally, found the expressway out of the city. He wasted no time in getting onto it and heading off to the school.

"We're out." Carl said with a sigh of relief, "We're out."

Suddenly he felt someone hug him around the neck tightly and cry into him. He didn't need to look at her forelegs to know it was Twilight.

"Carl…are you okay?" she asked as she looked at his cut-up face. Carl nodded.

"Yeah." He nodded before looking at Twilight, "are you?"

Twilight's tear filled eyes looked directly into Carl's before she shook her head and cried more.

Carl looked over to see Alex and Applejack hugging each other, Applejack crying as Alex tried to console her.

Alex looked over at Carl and gave him a worried and sad look.

Carl could tell that both of them were thinking the same thing.

"_What have we done."_

Eventually, Ryan pulled onto the highway, followed by Louis, who had finally managed to catch up to them. Rarity was still unmoving and staring forward until Louis put his arm around her. She then fell against his side and nuzzled against him as tears began to fall from her blue eyes.

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie was still crying against Pete's leg as he held onto her shaking body.

Fluttershy finally opened her eyes, which were filled with tears, and turned to see James staring straight ahead with eyes that were like those of a veteran with shellshock.

Rainbow Dash eventually sat back up and took a deep breath as Ryan turned to her.

"Rainbow Dash; are you okay?"

She nodded before responding, "I don't want you to stay here. I want you to leave this world with me, it's…it's too terrible. When I go back I'm not leaving you here."

Ryan leaned over and kissed her forehead as she leaned against his shoulder as they continued to speed down the road to get closer to Carl, who was still quite a distance away.

In Carl's car, Applejack and Alex were still holding each other as Twilight rested her head on Carl's shoulder.

She was no longer crying, but she kept sadly whispering the same thing, "I want to go home…I…I want to go home."

**I hope that was different from other means of breaking the news to them about the horrors of our world. **

**Anyway, I did hopefully fill in some gaps from earlier with some of Carl's questions and Twilight's answers.**

**And I also would like to thank this source: /topic/5928-teleportation/page_st_20 for giving me ideas on the theories of teleportation that could be used, as it is never explained in the show (that I know of)**

**As of now I am not completely sure how this story will end. I have a direction that I want to take it, but how I'll go about it still remains to be seen. Also when I am done here I plan on possibly making an MLP story that's based on Inception (Ponies and Nolan, how can I pass up?)**

**Anyways; thanks for reading and thanks for the reviews.**

**And, as always…**

**Go Giants! Go Rainbow Dash!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20: Finding the Elements**

**Okay more action. Hopefully everyone finds the balance of emotion and character versus action to be sufficient. If not, let me know. In this chapter, you might notice some inspiration from movies like "Inception" and "Harry Potter".**

**Thanks for everyone who has read so far, and thanks for all of the reviews as well. **

**And, as usual, I only own my OCs.**

**Wilmont City Hall**

Obscure stood at the large window in his office, watching in pride as the anarchists and US Military battled in the streets below, sending buildings crashing down, fire now engulfing almost every inch of the city as the sounds of gunfire and explosions filled the night.

All Obscure could do was stand at the window and close his eyes in a state of near perfect bliss as the war continued in the city.

"You know closing your eyes doesn't get rid of me." Came the familiar, young voice of Crescent as he stood beside Obscure, who opened his eyes but his smile still persisted.

"I know, and frankly I don't care." Obscure said tauntingly as he trotted off, Crescent right behind him.

"Why don't you listen to me?"

"Why don't you leave me alone?" Obscure asked in a tone the suggested a growing irritation, "I hate to look like I'm talking to myself…of wait! Silly me, I am talking to myself."

Obscure stormed off while Crescent kept up with him.

"Don't you remember the day you joined Discord?" Crescent asked, "how he turned you against the Princess and your best friend?"

"Of course I do." Obscure growled, "it was after the Princess picked Bright over me to protect the Element of Magic on this pitiful planet. The day she proved how little she cared about all of the work I put into my magic."

"What about your cutie mark?" Crescent asked, "Do you remember the night you got that?"

Obscure sighed, "No, I completely forgot the day my childhood dream came true." He stated sarcastically before he turned around to stare into Crescent's innocent, silver eyes that nevertheless showed disappointment, "I may have forgotten much of my past life but that I will never forget."

"Then you remember how Bright was the one who gave you the idea, right?"

Obscure scowls as he remembers the day.

**Flashback- Canterlot- Night**

Both Bright and Crescent were laying in the middle of a field in Canterlot, pondering ways in which Crescent could earn his cutie mark. Actually Bright was thinking about ideas more than Crescent, who just lay on the grass in a very depressed state. Suddenly, Bright had a "lightbulb" moment and grinned.

"I've got it!" Bright said happily as he stood above Crescent, who still had a defeatist's look on his face.

"What have you got? The name of a tattoo artist that can give me a fake cutie mark?"

"An idea about how you can get your cutie mark. Why don't you try to do something to the moon?" he asked, "After all your name is _Crescent_ and most ponies I've met have cutie marks that are related to their name!"

Crescent looked at Bright and nodded, "Are…are you sure it will work?"

"Worth a shot, right?" Bright asked with a big smile that made Crescent chuckle a bit as he made his way to his hooves.

"Right." He looked up at the moon and sighed, "here goes nothing."

Crescent shut his eyes and began to concentrate on the moon. His horn glowed as he pointed it at the full sphere in the sky, the silhouette of Nightmare Moon still on the surface. He began to strain, trying to get something to happen. Bright was looking up at the moon when, suddenly, he noticed something strange about it.

It was becoming engulfed in the same black aura that was glowing on Crescent's horn. The moon eventually became surrounded in the glow and Crescent let out one last grunt effort before the moon completely disappeared from the sky, leaving the night in utter darkness.

A few screams were heard nearby as the moon left the sky, as the sudden darkness made ponies everywhere think the world was coming to an end.

"Crescent!" Bright shouted excitedly, making the colt whose eyes were closed and horn was glowing open her eyes and gasp at the moonless night sky. As soon as he broke concentration, the moon re-appeared in the sky and the screams that were heard in the distance calmed down as the light provided by the re-emergence of the moon took away the pure darkness of the night.

"Wow. Crescent! You did it! You did magic!" Bright shouted excitedly as he danced around his friend, "you made the moon disappear!"

"He-he, I guess I did." Crescent said with an embarrassed blush on his face. Bright kept dancing before he quickly stopped right behind Crescent and gasped, pointing at his flank.

"Holy Celestia! Dude, look on your flank!" Bright shouted.

"What? What's wrong with…" Crescent turned around to see his flank was no longer "blank", so to speak. It now had the image of a crescent moon on it, shining brightly against his black coat.

His eyes went wide in shock, "I…I have a cutie mark." He said somewhat quietly before he grinned and began to hop around excitedly and shout, "I've got a cutie mark! Yahoo!"

Bright chuckled, "Yeah man, congrats!"

Crescent stopped his celebration and turned to his best friend, the one that had given him the inspiration and idea he needed to finally accomplish his goal. He ran over to Bright and gave him a big hug, "Thank you Bright! Thank you for everything!"

Bright smiled and hugged his best friend back, "Don't mention it Crescent."

After they broke the hug, Bright smiled, "Hey come on let's go work on some more magic!"

"Yeah!" Crescent said excitedly before both colts ran off into the open field to work on their magic.

Up above them, standing stoically in her castle, was Princess Celestia, who smiled at the two colts' friendship, and how strong Crescent's magic was.

"_He'll be a perfect addition to my academy with Bright."_ She said with a smile.

**Wilmont City Hall- Present**

Obscure's eyes were slightly watery as he remembered the night that Bright, the stallion that he killed, had helped him get his cutie mark.

"It wasn't just the cutie mark he helped you get," Crescent said to the nostalgic looking Obscure, who snapped out of his trance to look down at the small colt, "he helped you get the confidence you needed to perform magic at the level that made you one of Princess Celestia's top students."

"Pfft." Obscure said with a smile, "I _was_ her top student."

"Either way." Crescent sternly said, "Bright helped you get the power you have today. A power that, I'm ashamed to say, seems to have done more harm than good."

Obscure was about to respond when he heard the booming voice of Discord come from behind him.

"Obscure!"

Obscure turned around to see Discord standing before him with a stern look on his face.

"Yes..erm…yes sir?" Obscure said nervously.

"They know where the elements have been hidden." Discord said sternly before he smiled his usual, maniacal smile, "and I do believe it's time to deal with this emergency situation."

"You want me to send off the troops?" Obscure asked, to which Discord gave a nod.

"That would be best, Obscure."

Obscure nodded and trotted off, transforming back into Brett as he neared his office so he could use the phone easier. Once inside, he shut the door and walked over to his desk and sat down. He grabbed a phone and called one of the main leaders of Milites Chaos and told them to get a group together and head off to the mall so that they could ransack it; thus "sending a message against commercialism".

Once he gave that order to the anarchist leader, who immediately began to rally numerous other members of the Milites Chaos to go to the mall in their war-prepped vehicles, Brett called up Officer Cantor and told him to go to the park with the entire police force to stop the elements that were heading there.

Once he finished talking with Brett, Officer Cantor began to get all of the officers that he could together. He had managed to teleport back to the station after the jailbreak to find his men unconscious and the entire building destroyed. He managed to wake up as many officers as he could before he started to give them the orders to head out to the park.

Once a group was assembled in the wreck of the police station, Officer Cantor led them out to the squad cars. Within minutes, a long line of police cruisers was leaving the parking lot of the police station, heading to Wilmont Park to take care of the elements that were there. They could have teleported, but as Discord always said, "Letting people get a false sense of security will always cause them to panic more." Therefore, the unicorn officers opted to take the police cruisers to the park.

It may not have been the smartest move, but Discord was always about causing havoc rather than simply "defeating" his opponents. After all, it was always more fun to mess with one's mind before beating them, as was the case with the mane six in Equestria, and now all of the elements here on Earth.

Finally, Brett sighed and turned himself back into Obscure Darkness before sitting in the chair at his desk.

"Don't do it." Crescent said, interrupting Obscure from his state of concentration.

"You're nothing but a figment of my imagination." He muttered before he closed his eyes and began to imagine the school just as Carl's car sped into the parking lot. He slowly began to piece together the architecture of the building from memory so that he could perform his magic on it. "And I do not listen to things that aren't real."

**Wilmont High School**

Carl pulled his car into one of the spaces that was near the entrance of the building. During the ride over, both Twilight and Applejack had calmed down significantly, but both still had a sad, scared look in their eyes. After all, they were used to living in a universe that nothing horrendous ever happened in, and when something bad did happen, it always was solved. Evil was defeated and good always won in Equestria, but here they got to see what true fighting was like in a reality that isn't always met with happy endings and painless battles.

Once he turned the engine off, Carl turned to Twilight with a concerned look on his face, "Twi are you okay?"

She looked at Carl with a very serious expression and nodded without giving any verbal response. It was clear that, while she was feeling better after they left the city, she was still shaken from the entire experience.

"Applejack?" Alex asked the other pony that was in the car. She nodded at Alex before giving him a small smile.

"Ah'm good." She said, though Alex could tell she wasn't completely being her honest self at that moment. Alex hugged her again and gave her a kiss as a way to comfort her as he knew how much she was holding back from him, and how scared she still was from the war they had just driven through.

"You know we're safe now, right Twi?" Carl asked and Twilight nodded slowly.

"Yeah I do, but I'm still...afraid of what we could be facing in the future." she said as she looked down.

"Well as long as you stick by me, I'll make sure nothing happens to you."

Twilight looked up at Carl and gave him the smallest smile, as if to say "thank you" before she used her magic to open all of the car doors.

They all got out of the car and headed up to the school.

"So how are we going to find the elements exactly?" Alex asked Twilight, as they got closer to the door.

"Well the prophecy seemed to imply that you use your magic." Twilight responded. "It did say; "the magic of love will be the guide"."

"How in the hay will that help?" Applejack asked Twilight, who just shrugged.

"I guess because they associate us with what the elements represent."

"Well first ah think we need ta get into the buildin'." Applejack said as she pointed to the door. Carl walked up to it and, unsurprisingly, it was locked. He groaned and stepped back.

"Hang on let me blast a hole in the door." Carl muttered as he closed his eyes and began to think about Twilight, and how he loved her and how she represented magic to him. Slowly his aura began to build. Suddenly, however, his thought process was cut short when he heard a loud _"SMASH"_

Carl quickly opened his eyes and his aura disappeared due to the noise. He saw that the glass door leading into the school had been shattered by Applejack, who turned to the others and grinned victoriously at her mad bucking skills.

"How is it you don't cut yourself whenever you buck glass?" Alex asked.

"Us earth ponies have tough skin," she said with a chuckle, "and workin' on the farm helped mine become even tougher."

"Your skin must be like steel." Alex said with a small laugh as they all entered the school through the doorframe and stood in an area where three hallways met. Directly in front of them was a set of stairs that led up one level and down another level. The school cafeteria was located downstairs in the basement while classrooms mostly for Social Studies and science classes were on the second floor. The first floor had the main office, the nurse's office, the library, as well as classrooms for the math, English and foreign language classes.

Carl turned to look at Alex, who returned the glance before they both nodded to each other, ready to use their magic to find the elements. They closed their eyes and began to think about their partners to bring out their magic to find the location of their element.

It didn't seem to be working until both Carl and Alex seemed to sense a concentrated presence of each element at a specific area of the school. As he continued to think about Twilight, Carl pointed his aura to the right of the stairs. It was there that he felt a high presence of magic, which assumed to be the two elements.

"Carl?" Twilight asked as she slowly walked up to him, his eyes still encased in violet, "Carl did you find anything?"

Carl opened his eyes and his aura disappeared, as did Alex's.

"The library." He muttered before running off.

"The library?" Twilight asked before she realized that Carl was already heading there, "Hey! Carl wait up!" she ran after him.

Applejack looked up at Alex, "Alex, where's our elements?"

As Alex thought about his love of Applejack, how she represented hard-work, honesty, and everything that society seemed to be running out of, he finally found a concentration of what he could only describe as a feeling of honesty, or something that lacked in most other areas of the school, where cheating and lying ran rampant.

Alex looked down at Applejack as his glowing hand was directed at the staircase, "It's downstairs in the cafeteria, come on." Alex said, motioning for Applejack to run after him.

"Right behind ya partner!" Applejack said excitedly as she tipped her at forward with a smile before running off after Alex.

**Wilmont Park**

Upon arriving at the park, Ryan stopped the car on a grassy area near the playground. Normally parking on the grass would be frowned upon by society, but after his parents were killed by that very same society that frowned upon such "improper parking"; Ryan didn't give a shit.

He and James got out, Ryan running over to the passenger-side door to help Rainbow Dash get out of the SUV, as she couldn't open car doors with her hooves, and her wings were broken, so she couldn't fly out of the shattered window. James, meanwhile, opened the back door and allowed Fluttershy to fly out of the car, giving into the whole idea of "ladies first".

After locking the car, which seemed pretty pointless since the park was empty and the windows were shattered, James and Ryan both stood on the grass and looked at each other.

"Well how do we find it?" James asked.

"Let me try using my magic, after all it would fit the prophecy, right?" Ryan asked as James nodded. Ryan cracked his neck and let out a sigh before he began to do what Alex and Carl had done moments before at the High School. He began to think about Rainbow Dash, how loyal she was, how much of a free spirit she was, and how confident she was in herself, which was something Ryan lacked. As he thought about all of these things, including her rose-colored eyes and cute face, his body began to emit the familiar, cyan aura that it had before.

Once his hand was engulfed in cyan, he held it out to scan the park for the concentration of "loyalty". Finally, he finally found out where his and Rainbow Dash's elements were located, his hand pointed up a hill at one of the fields.

"Well Ryan, did you find them?" Rainbow Dash asked with a tone that was all business, no more fooling around. As Ryan's aura went away, he looked down at Rainbow Dash's face, which wasn't showing any more effects of the horror it showed as they left the city, just seriousness.

He felt better seeing how she seemed to be recovered from the mental trauma she endured. He gave her a small nod, "Yeah it's on the lacrosse field up there." He said as he pointed up at the lacrosse field that was about fifty yards away, up a small hill.

"Awesome!" Rainbow Dash said. Ryan was about to run off when he stopped in place and turned back to Rainbow Dash, giving her a sly grin as he decided to help her feel better, even if she seemed fine he wanted to make sure.

"Do you want to race me?" he asked, thinking that asking her to do something that she loved would help her feel even better after going through such a terrible ordeal.

Not to mention himself, as he still kept thinking about his parents. Even though he seemed fine on the outside, most of it was an act for the benefit of the group, as he couldn't afford to grieve yet, not while Discord was still causing havoc in the city. Not only that, but he knew that he couldn't appear weak in front of Rainbow Dash anymore than he already had, especially after everything that she'd seen.

Upon the request for a race, Rainbow Dash's eyes lit up, going from still a little downcast to excited, "Really?"

Ryan nodded and Rainbow Dash gave him her typical, competitive grin, "Do you think you can keep up with me?"

"I'll try. Ready set go!" Ryan quickly said before he turned and ran off, laughing as he got a head start against Rainbow Dash.

"Hey! No fair!" Rainbow dash complained with a smile still on her face as she ran after the laughing teen.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy watched as James did his own magic and scanned the area before he found a concentration of kindness. He thought about Fluttershy's kindness, not just to him, but to everyone and everypony else. How she always complimented him when his parents degraded him, how she always thought about what was right, how she had gone to see Caroline when she was still alive, and how she had been there for James when he needed comfort after Caroline passed away.

Eventually, James looked down at her, his aura fading away.

"Um, James. Do you know where the elements are? If…if you don't that's fine too, because if you try your best that's all that matters."

James smiled at her typical uneasiness before getting down and hugging her.

"I love how kind you are." He chuckled before he felt Fluttershy hug him back. He turned to her ear and whispered, "and it's in the forest behind the soccer field, where we went for a hike a few days ago."

With that, they broke the hug. Fluttershy gave James a kind smile before they both ran off to find their Elements.

"Hah! I beat you!" Rainbow Dash shouted in victory as they reached the lacrosse field. She, of course, managed to beat Ryan even though he had a head start.

"No fair! You have wings!" Ryan complained jokingly as he caught his breath, repeating the complaint Applejack had used in the episode when her and Rainbow Dash were competing against each other.

"But I couldn't use them." Rainbow Dash said as she motioned to her bandaged wings, "besides you got a head start. If anypony should be complaining about cheating it's me."

Ryan shrugged, "Fair enough, but I do want a re-match later."

"You're on," Rainbow Dash chuckled, "but first I think we should find our elements."

Ryan nodded and proceeded to use his aura-engulfed hand to sense where it was located on the field. He was happy that Rainbow Dash seemed to be feeling better after the horrors that she saw in the city.

"It's right here." Ryan muttered as they approached one of the goals. Once they reached it, they both pushed it back so they could get to the grassless area that had been torn up from years of goalies being present in the net, doing anything and everything to prevent a goal from being scored on them. Ryan got onto his knees and began to dig with his hands, Rainbow Dash helping him as best as she could with her hooves. They both began to dig with more fervor, both Ryan and Rainbow Dash getting covered in the dirt and grass as they dug deeper and deeper.

**Mall**

"Get back!" Louis shouted as he used his newly harnessed white aura to smash through the glass doors of the mall. As his aura disappeared, a satisfied grin grew on his face as he saw the power that he could harness with his magic.

"Wow Louis that was quite impressive." Rarity said with a huge grin.

"Oh you haven't seen anything yet Rarity." Louis said joyfully as he walked through the doorframe, "when I run into anymore of those bastards they're getting a face of my psychic force."

"Not to be a party-pooper-Pinkie-pie," Pinkie interrupted, "but I think we should find the elements before we think about fighting anypony."

"Good plan darling." Rarity said before turning back up to Louis, "I do believe the magic you two possess will help you find it."

Louis nodded before Pete walked by him, his hand, mid-section, and eyes already glowing pink as he thought about Pinkie Pie being the first person to completely love him for the random things he said, how bubbly she was all of the time, and how she was there to cheer him up after his parents disowned him.

"Way ahead of you guys." Pete muttered before he stopped walking and the aura that engulfed him disappeared. He turned to Pinkie Pie, "Pinkie! It's this way come on." He said as he started to jog off.

Pinkie Pie grinned and bounced off after Pete, amazingly keeping up with him even though he was jogging and she was hopping like a certain bunny that delivers painted eggs.

"Well Louis?" Rarity asked, "Have you found our elements?"

Louis' eyes were shut and his hand outstretched, just as Pete had doe, and began to think about Rarity, and everything that she meant to him. He thought about her sweet nature, her desire to work hard, and, of course, her generosity, something that was never appreciated in this world, as he learned when his parents were killed while doing charity work in Somalia. All of this eventually helped Louis locate the concentrated feeling of generosity that the elements were giving off.

"Yep." He muttered as the white aura disappeared and he returned to his normal self. "Found them."

**Wilmont: City Hall**

Obscure's eyes were closed as a black aura engulfed him. He began to picture the school in his mind, as he had been there before, just to be prepared in case something like this happened and he needed to use his magic from afar. He would have teleported there, but Discord had told him earlier to remain in City Hall with him no matter what, and he wasn't just about to go against the God of chaos. As the classrooms began to form in his head, the library, cafeteria, gym, and he smiled as he felt the presence of the elements in the library and cafeteria.

Crescent was sitting on his haunches watching this with a sad expression on his face.

**Wilmont High**

Carl and Twilight were in the school library, where they were trying to find their Elements using Carl's aura, which still danced around his outreached hand. The library was quite large for being part of a typical, public high school. It was filled with aisles upon aisles of books, making Twilight feel like she was back at her tree house library, surrounded by the books that she loved to read when she had free time. She had to fight every ounce of her being to prevent herself from sprinting around the library, looking at each book on every shelf to see if there was anything that interested her. And knowing Twilight's obsession with books, Carl looked down at her.

"Don't even think about it Twi."

'But there's just _so_ _many_." she complained as her dinner plate-sized eyes scanned the entire library in awe.

"Twi." Carl scolded before Twilight rolled her eyes in frustration.

"Fiiiine. Where are the elements then?" Twilight asked.

Carl nodded, "They're down that aisle." He said as he pointed down one of the aisles of books to his and Twilight's left. They both ran down the aisle of books, many of which, Carl noticed, dealt with the supernatural and magic, quite ironic given the circumstances.

Eventually, Carl stopped in front of a shelf and pointed up to the top shelf at a violet book that seemed to have gold lettering on the cover.

"It's that one, Twi. The one with the purple cover." He said as he gestured to the book with his finger.

Twilight nodded and closed her eyes as her horn glowed. Her magic eventually brought the book down to Carl's outreached hand. He snatched it out of the air and opened it up. Instead of finding the normal inside of a book, which would consist of pages upon pages of text, he found that the pages were hollowed out to make room for the two elements. One was Twilight's familiar tiara-like element, which she referred to a "crowny-thing" in the show, while the other had more of a crown shape to it, giving it a more masculine appearance. Carl took his out of the hollow book while Twilight removed hers with her magic.

"That was easy." Carl muttered as he examined his element crown, which looked identical to Twilight except that it was, as stated before, more crown-like.

"Yeah. What was the book called anyway?" Twilight asked with some of her innocent curiosity, her eyes directed to the book that was still open in Carl's hand. Carl closed the book and looked at the cover, which showed the image of an alicorn and the title, which he read.

"Um, it's called _Magic and Reality: How Things Cannot Always Be Explained_".

"Is that Princess Celestia?" Twilight asked as she pointed the hoof at the alicorn on the cover. Carl looked at it as his jaw dropped. The pony on the cover did, in fact, look a lot like the goddess of Equestria. Even the mane and tail were colored a brilliant, rainbow spectra, and there appeared to be the image of the sun on her flank, just like the Princess' cutie mark.

"Wow, that's…that's interesting." Carl muttered before he put the book onto one of the lower shelves that had space on it. "Come on, let's get…"

Carl stopped speaking when he saw a creepy, black mist slowly climbing the up walls of the library. There was also a sound that was similar to a crank being pulled. Both Carl and Twilight looked around as the mist made its way up to the roof of the library, both of their faces showing great worry and confusion at the sight.

Meanwhile, downstairs in the cafeteria, both Applejack and Alex were behind the counter that lunch-ladies served the food from to look for their element. In the kitchen area that they were walking through, they saw boxes of fruit and vegetables all across the floor. There was a huge stove and two, large refrigerators in the kitchen as well.

Alex finally felt the presence of the Element and stopped walking before looking down at a box that was filled to the brim with fresh Empire Apples that had been picked from one of the local farms.

"What in tarnation?" Applejack asked with a raised eyebrow as she leaned towards the box, her skeptical eye zeroing in on he apples that filled the box, "the element is in there? Are ya sure ya weren't just drawn ta apples because ya were focusin' on me?" she looked up at Alex.

He got down onto his knees and began to toss the apples out of the box until he reached the bottom, or at least what seemed to be the bottom. He could tell that the "bottom" he was looking at was not truly the bottom of the box. He noticed a small hole in the bottom of the box that was on the edge in-between the "bottom" and the side of the box.

Alex put his finger into it and pulled up, revealing a hidden compartment with two identical necklaces that both had apple symbols on them, the Elements of Honesty.

"Nope, just a lack of originality." Alex said with a smirk, referring to the chosen location of the elements, "Yet still strangely inspired."

Alex and Applejack got down and grabbed them and put them onto their necks, Alex helping Applejack put her necklace on since she had hooves and normally had to rely on Twilight's magic to put it on.

"Thank ya Alex." She said as he clicked the necklace into place.

They both stood up just as they noticed the walls of the kitchen becoming engulfed in a similar, black mist that was currently surrounding the library.

"What going on?" Applejack asked as she pointed her hoof at the mist.

Alex shook his head, "I don't know."

Little did they know this was Obscure gaining control of the school from Wilmont City Hall as he sat at his desk, his arms outstretched and his eyes closed as his black aura danced around his unicorn form while the image of the school completed its formation in his mind. He smiled as he felt the image coming to completion.

He now had control of the entire building.

In the library, Twilight and Carl looked at each other with worry as the fog finished covering all of the walls and the entire ceiling, resulting in the library becoming dark, before the mist finally disappeared into nothingness. As soon as the mist was gone, the "cranking" noise grew louder, and louder, and louder, until the library began to rotate upwards, folding so that Carl and Twilight began to slide down the aisle, screaming as the room became more and more vertical. Carl managed to grab Twilight's foreleg with one hand and grab onto the leg of the shelves that the book had been found on with the other. Fortunately the shelves had been screwed to the ground so he could use it as a means of preventing them from falling. He held Twilight in one hand, and his element in the other as they dangled about fifty feet above the "ground", which was really the wall on the opposite side of the library that had become the floor to them as the other wall became the ceiling.

Twilight let out a scream as she hung in the air; only Carl's grip was preventing her from plummeting to the ground. Her legs dangled before he calmed herself down so that her panicking would prevent Carl from losing his grip.

Meanwhile, downstairs, both Alex and Applejack began to make their way out of the cafeteria just as the entire building's walls and ceilings began engulfed in the mist before it disappeared, just like it did in the library.

But instead of a cranking sound, what Applejack and Alex heard sounded like a large amount of rushing water heading their way. They both slowly turned to face the other end of the hallway, which was where the rushing sound was coming from. The floor began to shake, as the roar of the water grew closer to the duo; and closer, and closer, and closer.

"What the hay is that?" Applejack asked with fright as she sniffed the air, "and what's that smell?"

Alex's eyes widened when it hit him. The smell of chlorine hit his nostrils and he knew what was heading their way. "The pool…the pool water. AJ run!"

Both of them darted off in the other direction of the sound just as a wall of pool water began to crash down the hallway after them, destroying everything in its path. Alex and Applejack ran up the stairs to get to higher ground, but the water continued to follow them. As they reached the top step, they sprinted off down a hall that was lined with lockers, only to watch the lockers behind them burst open as even more pool water burst out, adding to the giant wave of doom heading directly at them.

"This ain't even fair!" Applejack shouted up at Alex as they continued to run.

"You expected Discord to play fair?" Alex shouted angrily, "My God! He made you into a liar! And he used magic when he said nopony was allowed to use magic! He never plays fair!"

**(I'd like to give credit to a comment on youtube for that joke, as they brought that hypocrisy up, not me).**

"Will ya shut up and just keep runnin'?" Applejack shouted back as the continued to sprint down the hallway.

Back in the library, both Carl and Twilight were still hanging above the opposite wall.

"Twilight, can you use your magic to get the room back to normal? Can you counter-act what's going on?" Carl asked in a panic.

"I'll try." She replied.

Twilight's eyes were closed as her horn glowed, her mind focused on countering the spell. Nothing was happening in the library, as the room was fully folded over, but in the hallway where Alex and Applejack were, the massive wave of chlorinated pool water began to slow down to a snail's pace just as Alex and Applejack were cornered at a dead end.

"Alex, use yer magic to counter it!" Applejack shouted.

Alex nodded and walked closer to the water, his hands engulfed in an orange glow, which he began to use to push the water back. It was working out for a few moments before the water began to make a gurgling noise and it changed from it's clear, bluish color typically associated with water, into a darker, brownish color. Alex's eyes went wide and his aura disappeared as he realized what the water had turned into, as the smell of chlorine was gone, replaced by the all too familiar smell of alcohol.

It had turned into whiskey, the same whiskey his stepfather drank heavily almost every night. He suddenly was frozen in fear, thoughts filling his mind of the beatings he endured and his mother's lies.

His mother's lack of honesty, which made Alex lose faith in it.

Suddenly, the water began to show the image of his stepfather's face, which stared Alex down angrily. This only served to make Alex remember all of the times he and his mother had been abused by him, and how his mother ignored him as his stepfather pummeled him, and even attempted to kill him.

He slowly fell to the ground in horror, shaking as the whiskey wave slowly began to creep towards the two again, only Twilight's magic holding it back from rushing at them with the force it had earlier. He wanted to look away from his stepfather's eyes, his cold, hate-filled eyes, but he just couldn't. It was like looking at a car wreck.

Applejack walked over to him, "Alex?"

Alex just sat on the ground, staring up at the massive wave with tears forming in his eyes.

"Alex, snap yerself out of it!" Applejack said sternly, giving Alex a gentle slap in the face only to have Alex cry harder.

"She lied to me," he muttered, "honestly doesn't exist here. Honesty doesn't exist in reality. All that exists here is pain. She lied and now she doesn't care about me. He lied about caring about us; instead he abuses us! Honesty can't exist, and I can't be honest."

"Yes it does Alex," Applejack said as she put her front hooves onto his shoulders. He looked up into her big, green, honest eyes, "honesty does exist."

"Applejack, humans aren't honest like you AJ." Alex said sadly, "Humans lie and cheat to get what they want. My mother lied to my father and I."

Applejack looked over her shoulder to see the approaching wave. Her face became worried at their possible doom before turning back to Alex, "But yer honest Alex, otherwise ya wouldn't represent it."

Alex just kept looking into her eyes, not taking them away for any reason. "B-but I…"

Applejack couldn't take anymore of his doubt and kissed him. Alex suddenly felt better, as he always did when either kissing or hugging Applejack. In fact, just having her close to him usually made him feel better when he was feeling bad, like she did after the call he had with his mother.

After she finished, she broke away and said, "Ah would never kiss nopony who ain't honest."

Alex just looked into Applejack's eyes as he suddenly realized that honesty could exist. After all, Applejack was her same, honest self in this world that she was in Equestria, even after seeing the warzone downtown. He may not completely believe humanity could be honest, but as long as he had Applejack in his life he'd believe that a truly honest person would remain uncorrupted wherever they were.

Slowly, Alex stood back up, his aura once again working as he stared down the flowing, whiskey wave that was flashing the image of his stepfather, staring him down as he always did after a night at the bar.

"You don't control me anymore." Alex growled in a rage before he held his hands up and froze the water in place. It didn't go away, but it was no longer advancing on the two of them.

Back in the library, Twilight was doing her best to counter-act the spell, but it was not working.

"This is no good Carl, I don't have the power to do it!"

"Yes you do Twi! You have to believe it!" Carl shouted down to her as some more books fell past them, hitting the wall with a thud.

Twilight began to close her eyes, "Come on!" she shouted to herself.

As Carl watched her, he suddenly thought of something. If his love of Twilight made his magic grow, maybe…

With some effort, he lifted Twilight up to his face, grimacing while doing so. Once they were face to face, he looked into Twilight's eyes, which were still shut as she concentrated on her magic.

"Carl what are you doing? I'm trying to save us!" she said with an aggravated tone.

"Twilight look at me." Carl said sternly. Twilight groaned in annoyance and rolled her eyes before she looked at Carl, their violet eyes meeting each other. Suddenly, her agitation disappeared and was be replaced by her love for Carl.

Before she can say anything, Carl pressed his lips to hers and her eyes shot open in shock as her horn suddenly began to glow more a

Slowly, her eyes closed as they continue to engage in a kiss while her magic became increasingly powerful, as did Carl's. They couldn't tell, but miles away in Wilmont City hall, Obscure Darkness was having a hard time keeping his spell in effect. He began to strain, a little blood dripping out of his nose as he fought back against the powers of both Carl and Twilight's magic, not to mention Alex's own magic, which he was using to stop the wave of alcohol from drowning him and Applejack in his painful memories.

Eventually, he could no longer keep the spell working and was flung into the far wall of the room he was in, knocking him unconscious as he fell to the ground with a picture that he had slammed into.

The library slowly fell back to its original position, Carl and Twilight both still kissing each other as a purple aura engulfed them both. Books were scattered around them as they continued to kiss. They were seemingly unaware that the room had returned to normal until they began to slowly open their eyes to see that everything was back to how it should be. Well, except for the fact that the library was in shambles and books were gathered at the other wall after falling from the shelves to the wall since it had become the floor. But the floor was the floor and the roof was the roof, and that was the main issue before.

They looked at each other and laughed.

"Well that was interesting." Carl muttered which made Twilight only laugh harder.

"That's a bit of an understatement." Twilight added before she flashed Carl another smile. They laughed a little more before standing up.

With Alex and Applejack, they both watched as the alcohol wave slowly evaporated into thin air, significantly shocking both of them. Applejack leapt up and hugged Alex, "Whoa Alex that was amazin'! How did ya do that?"

"I didn't." he muttered, "I just froze the wave I didn't evaporate it." He then looked down at Applejack as she got off of him with a grin on her face.

"Well freezin' the wave still mighty dandy."

He smiled back at her, "Well ah wouldn't have been able ta do it if ya weren't here."

Applejack burst out into laughter, "Alex why can't ya talk like that all the time?"

"Ah might consider it." Alex said with a small chuckle before they both started back down the hallway, that had only moments before been covered in a wave of whiskey, to the entrance to meet up with Carl and Twilight, as they had completed their mission.

**Wilmont Park**

In the forest, James was running through the path that was wide enough for a car, but narrow enough not to be too spacious. Fluttershy flew alongside him as they continued down the path that he and Fluttershy had gone down a few days before after he had heard of Caroline's death.

James stopped for a moment to focus more on his magic to make sure he was heading in the right direction.

"Oh James, are we getting close? These woods are sort of scary with all of these big trees and strange noises." She suddenly heard what sounded like an owl before she fell to the ground in fear, teeth chattering as her hooves covered her head.

"Relax Fluttershy it's only an owl." James said.

Fluttershy slowly stood back up, blushing in embarrassment, "Oh sorry James."

James smiled at her before he looked over towards a small hole that was underneath a tree just up ahead.

"It's in there I think," James said as he pointed at the hole, "in that hole."

"It looks like an animal lives there." Fluttershy noticed before trotting over to the hole and leaning inside, "Um excuse me. Little animals? I'm very sorry to bother you so late but if you don't mind, my friend and I really need to get something out of your home. There should be two gold necklaces in there. Could you please bring them out, if you don't mind that is?"

James' jaw dropped as he saw two foxes trot out of the hole with two necklaces in their mouths, each with a butterfly-shaped gem on it. The foxes put them down in front of Fluttershy.

"Oh, thank you two so very much." Fluttershy said happily as she patted the two foxes on the head before they slowly walked back into their den. "Have a good night!" she called after them in her soft voice.

Fluttershy picked the necklaces up with her mouth and flew over to James, dropping them into his hand. He looked at them and noticed that they were identical, so he handed one of them to Fluttershy and kept the other.

They looked at their elements and James smiled at Fluttershy, who was flying in front of his face. "How are you so good with animals?"

Fluttershy blushes and looked away, "Well, animals are just so kind and don't judge me, unlike everypony else. Besides my friends, that is."

James chuckled, "You're honestly the cutest thing I've ever seen."

Fluttershy blushed some more before she looked back at James with a smile, "Thanks James."

He nodded and they both headed out of the woods to go back to Ryan and Rainbow Dash.

**Mall**

"OH MY GOSH!" Pinkie Pie gasped as Pete and her reached the location of the Elements of Laughter, which was in none other than the main party supply store of the mall. "An _entire_ store dedicated to parties!"

"What are the odds?" Pete asked nobody in particular before Pinkie Pie sprinted into the store, which, thankfully, hadn't been locked up for the night. Actually, every store in the mall was open, as if the owners had left during the to escape the chaos that they thought was heading their way.

Pinkie Pie popped her head out from one of the aisles and called out to Pete, "Come on Petey! Let's find our elements!" Pinkie Pie disappeared behind the shelves as Pete followed her, looking around at the shelves lined with costumes, decorations, costumes, everything needed to have the best party possible.

Well, minus a party cannon and a crazy, fourth-wall breaking, cartoon pony.

"Okay, time to use my magic to find it." Pete muttered as he raised his hand up and began to try to feel out where the elements were. He slowly began to walk down the hall to where it had the greatest concentration, "Okay so it should be…."

"It's right here!" Pinkie Pie shouted from above. Pete looked up to see that she somehow managed to scale the shelves and reach the top and find the elements before Pete could even use his magic to do so. She was waving down at him with one hoof, as their elements were in her other hoof. Pete's eyebrow rose as Pinkie Pie dropped one of the necklaces down at him, "Here you go Petey! They're identical so you can have this one."

Pete nodded and put the necklace on as Pinkie Pie came down from the top shelf using two balloons that she had found at the ceiling, helping her get down with ease.

Once she was on the ground, she looked up at Pete and grinned, "Ready to go?"

Pete nodded, "Yeah, lets."

They both ran off towards the way they came into the mall, Pete deciding that asking Pinkie Pie any questions about her randomness would be pointless.

Meanwhile, in a department store that was similar to Macy's, Louis and Rarity found their elements inside of a beautiful, white dress that looked like it deserved to be worn at a wedding.

"Wow it's simply marvelous isn't it?" Rarity said as Louis looked at the two necklaces.

"Yeah, they're very beautiful necklaces, even if they are a tad girly." Louis chuckled before Rarity looked up at him and shook her head.

"No Louis I'm referring to this astonishing dress. I've never seen anything like it!" she said excitedly as she ran the white fabric over her hooves, examining every inch of it. "Oh I envy the person or pony who made this work of art."

"I still think your dresses are better." Louis said which made Rarity wave her hoof at him.

"Stop it, please. My dresses don't have anywhere near the craftsmanship as this." She said before letting the dress fall back out of her hooves as it still hung on the hangar before she looked back at Louis with a blush. "But thank you dear for the compliment."

Louis nodded before they both started to walk out of the store. Eventually, they met up with Pete near the entrance of the mall that they had broken into.

"What took you guys so long?" Pete asked.

"Sorry, we got a little caught up." Louis said rubbing the back of his head, "where's Pinkie?"

Pete pointed to a small stand that usually sold cookies and, predictably, Pinkie Pie was seen behind the glass eating one of the chocolate-chip cookies that was still there.

"Wait, isn't that stealing?" Louis asked.

"Not if you pay for it!" Pinkie Pie said happily as she dropped a few bits onto the counter before hopping out of the small stand. "There, two bits should cover it."

"Um Pinkie they won't know what bits are." Pete said.

She just shrugged and popped the last bit of cookie in her mouth. She licked her lips in satisfaction as she bounced back over to Pete's side.

"It's not my problem!" she said happily.

"You all set then?" Louis asked Pete and he nodded, tapping the element necklace that he wore.

"Yeah we were just waiting for you." He replied, "come on let's…"

_BOOOOMMMM!_

All four of them jumped as they watched one of the shops down the hall explode into a ball of flames, followed by screaming and the Latin chanting of the Milites Chaos. Suddenly, a mass of anarchists began to sprint down the hallway of the mall. They all screamed and started to run out to the car as the mob of anarchists flooded the mall, some chasing after them and firing their guns. Louis, however, stood his ground and began to build up his magic. The other three stopped and turned to see what he was doing.

"Louis what are you doing?" Rarity asked in confusion before he turned to her, his eyes engulfed in white as a smile spread across his face.

"Giving them a face of my psychic force."

He then turned back to the anarchists running at them before he reached up and brought his hands down, causing the glass that made up the ceiling in this part of the mall, to come crashing down on the group. They ducked as large shards of glass and pieces of the ceiling. None were crushed, but the sound of shattering glass frightened them enough to stop running and duck for cover.

Louis smiled and used this opportunity to grab them with his magic and throw them through the window of the nearest shop, shattering the window in the process as their bodies flew through.

Right on cue, however, more anarchists were running off towards them.

"Um Pinkie, you wouldn't happen to have your party cannon, would you?" Pete asked as he hurled a ball of his own magic at some of the anarchists, hitting two of them while the others still continued to run towards them, stepping on the glass that Louis had brought down moments before.

"No Pete!" Pinkie Pie shouted as she shook her head.

"Could you get it?" Pete asked as Pinkie Pie raised an eyebrow.

"What do you think, I pull it out of thin air? That's not possible." She replied before she turned her attention to Louis, who was now charging down, or losing his aura, before running back to the group.

"Let's get out of here." Louis shouted before the group nodded and they headed out to the car, Pete still aggravated that Pinkie Pie didn't think one could pull something out of nowhere when she, literally, pull things out of nowhere all of the time.

They finally reached Louis' car and all piled in. Before the anarchists could even reach the parking lot, Louis was already driving the group away.

"Well, I must say Louis. That was quite the display of magic back there." Rarity said with a smile.

"Thank you Rarity." Louis said with a smile before they both kissed.

In the back, Pinkie Pie was looking out of the back window at the mall, which was now on fire, just like the rest of the city was.

"Hey Pete, why do they set everything on fire?" she asked.

"To create chaos Pinkie Pie, I don't know." Pete said.

"I just don't understand how anypony could do things like this," she said, now sounding somewhat sad, "especially what I saw in the city."

She then turned to Pete, who looked at her with some sympathy before letting out a deep sigh, "Well Pinkie, that's the difference between our realities."

All Pinkie Pie did was slowly scoot closer to Pete and hug him, as if she were having flashbacks to the city, after she seemed to have gotten over it. Pete hugged her back as Louis continued to drive them off and away from the mall.

**Wilmont Park**

Ryan and Rainbow Dash were still digging, now with more speed. Ryan's fingernails had dirt accumulate under them, which eventually caused his fingers to bleed from under the nails. His eyes were determined and his arms and knees covered in dirt.

Rainbow Dash was just as determined, her hooves actually helping a great deal now that the ground was softer after the tougher topsoil had been removed. She gritted her teeth as dirt covered her forelegs and even her face as clumps of it smacked into her.

Finally, Ryan saw the familiar shine of something gold underneath a little bit of dirt. He quickly grabbed at it and pulled out the two necklaces that represented the Elements of Loyalty.

Rainbow Dash stopped digging as Ryan held the two necklaces up to show her. She grinned, "We've got them!"

Ryan smiled back and they hugged each other tightly before a voice from behind them interrupted their peaceful embrace.

"AHEM!"

Ryan and Rainbow Dash turned around to see James and Fluttershy standing behind them. A sly smirk was on James' face while Fluttershy hovered over to their two dirt-covered friends.

"Is this time bad for you two lovebirds?" James asked. "Because we do have a city to save…"

"No actually, it's perfect. I hope you enjoyed the show." Ryan answered before smiling and holding up his element for James to see. "We've got them man."

"Same." James said as he pulled his necklace out from under his shirt-collar, as he had been wearing it. Fluttershy also was wearing hers.

Ryan turned to Rainbow Dash and pointed to her element, which he was still holding. "May I?"

Rainbow Dash nodded, "Yeah."

Ryan placed the necklace around Rainbow Dash's neck and clipped it in place. After doing so, he looked up at her and blushed, realizing how cute she looked with the necklace on.

She giggled, "I take it you like what you see?"

Ryan snapped out of his trance and put his own necklace on before he and Rainbow Dash stood up.

"Ready?" Ryan asked James and Fluttershy, who both nodded in response.

They both headed off to Alex's SUV, now wearing their elements around their necks.

"So do you think Alex is going to kill you for the damage to his car?" James asked as he gestured to all of the dents and smashed parts of the SUV.

Ryan shook his head, "He'd better not. After all it's not my fault we had to drive through a warzone." Ryan then opened the door for Rainbow Dash to get into the passenger-side of the car.

"Well I'm sure he'll be understanding." Fluttershy said in a comforting tone.

James got into the back with Fluttershy as Ryan made his way to the drivers' side door, when he froze.

He could hear the approaching sound of police sirens, roaring closer and closer to the park.

"Of course it wouldn't be this easy." Ryan muttered before he ran over to the driver's side door and got in. He slammed it shut and turned the car on.

"What's that noise?" Rainbow Dash asked as she heard the sirens approaching, which wasn't hard since the passenger-side window had been smashed by Applejack.

All though most of the other windows were now broken anyways, so it didn't matter how they broke.

"The cops." Ryan answered as he began to back off of the grass.

"The police!" James shouted and Ryan nodded. "Oh no! Ryan get us out of here now!"

"What do you think I'm doing!" Ryan shouted back before he got off of the grass and began to speed towards the entrance of the park, only to realize that the police cruisers were now appearing from the road and drove into the park through the entrance, that Ryan was trying to make his way to. They then sped off towards the car that the four friends were in. Ryan quickly threw the brakes on and put the car in reverse before speeding back onto the grass. He then turned the car around and drove off towards the forest. A large blast of magic whizzed by the car just as Ryan managed to turn and go forward rather than backward. That blast hit the large backstop that was on a baseball field, which caused it to come crashing down. Ryan kept swerving and driving as fast as he could, being careful to avoid the occasional blast of magic that was sent their way from Officer Courtie or one of the other police officers.

"James, you go down this hiking trail a lot, yes?" Ryan shouted back at his friend as he started to drive across the soccer field where Rarity and Twilight first met Louis.

James nodded, "Yeah that's actually where we found our elements."

"Can this car drive down the path?"

James' eyes widened in confusion and he looked up towards Ryan, "What!"

"Is the path too narrow for this truck?"

"No, the part of the trail behind the soccer field is wide enough, but are you insane!" James shouted back with fear.

"Insane like a fox." Ryan muttered quietly before he continued to barrel towards the forest. Rainbow Dash was looking in the side-mirror at the long line of about eight police cruisers headed their way. Five were normal sedans that are typical for police use, while the other three were the black SUVS that resembled the one that Carl had first used his magic on.

"Whoa there are so many of them." She said in shock at the number of police cruisers chasing them.

"This is the reason I wanted Alex's SUV instead of a cruiser." Ryan said with a dark smile, "You see, there is a method to my madness."

With that, Ryan smashed through the vegetation before turning down the hiking trail in the direction of the actual road. The dirt road was quite bumpy, but the ride was pretty smooth considering they were riding through the open path of a hiking trail. Some tree branches hit the windshield, which was only broken a little bit so most of the leaves and twigs stayed outside of the vehicle.

"Rainbow Dash can you tell me what the police cruisers are doing behind us?" Ryan asked.

Rainbow Dash nodded as she continued to look into the side mirror, "Yeah they're right on our tails! Looks like one is gaining fast!"

"Okay, James, tell Fluttershy to put on her seatbelt!" Ryan shouted back, "and Rainbow Dash…" Ryan turned to her and reached across her to grab the seatbelt. He pulled it back across her torso and clicked it into the buckle.

"What's this?" she asked, looking down at the seatbelt with annoyance before glaring back up at Ryan in a huff, "why am I wearing this?"

"Because things are about to get a little bumpy and I don't want you to get hurt." Ryan said before looking back at James again, "Hey James!" James looked up at Ryan, who was grinning, "I think it's time to exact our angst on these fuckers."

James suddenly was beaming as he could finally vent his rage at these officers for what they did to Fluttershy. He turned and leaned out of the open window next to him and pointed his yellow aura-covered hand at the nearest cruiser, "Way ahead of you Ryan."

With that, James blasted a huge mass of aura at the nearest police car, hitting it square in the engine and causing it to explode into a ball of fire. The cruiser then landed on the ground and was hit by an incoming police SUV that was right behind it.

"Whoa!" Rainbow Dash shouted happily as she watched by sticking her head out of the window, "that was totally awesome!"

"What was that?" Fluttershy asked as she lifted her head to see the fireball behind them, "oh wow, I hope nopony in that car was hurt."

"I don't care if they died." James muttered under his breath before looking down at Fluttershy, who seemed shocked by his words. "Sorry Fluttershy." James apologized before slightly calming himself down.

"Wait, why aren't you scared like you were in the city?" Ryan asked as he turned to Rainbow Dash, surprised by her excitement with the explosion that James caused.

"Because we can handle this." Rainbow Dash said with a grin before gently punching Ryan's shoulder, "and I think it's time for you to vent your frustrations as well Ryan."

Ryan gave her a smile back and stuck his hand out of the drivers' side window as a beam of magic flew by them and missed. Ryan aimed at a tree up ahead and hit it with his cyan magic, causing it to come crashing down. Ryan managed to drive under it in time, as did most of the police force, but the last two cruisers in the line that was chasing them were unfortunate and smashed right into the massive log.

Now there were only four cruisers left, and Ryan wanted his hand at causing even more mayhem, so he saw a large boulder up ahead and grabbed it with his aura before throwing it back at the cars. While none of the remaining cruisers hit the rock that was hurtling towards them, one did swerve out of the way to avoid it and crashed into a small creek that was just off of the road.

Now one cruiser, which Officer Courtie was sitting in the passenger seat of, and two SUVS were all that was left of the eight police cars that had been trailing them earlier. They began to fire their own magic at Alex's SUV, only to miss every time. Ryan saw that they were approaching the road, and the only barrier was some tall grass.

"Rainbow Dash! I want you to take the steering wheel and make a hard turn to the left when I say so." Rainbow Dash nodded and took a hold of the steering wheel in her hooves. It was hard, but she did manage to loop her forelegs around the wheel to get a sort of "grip" on it.

"Let me know when!" she said with her eyes still pointed forward. Ryan nodded as he began to build up his aura, knowing that freezing a police cruiser or two would be more difficult than freezing people or ponies.

"Dude what are you planning?" James asked as he fired another blast of magic at one of the cruisers, which missed the main part of the car, but did manage to send a large rock into the windshield, hitting the officer in the passenger seat.

"You ever see movies about pirates?" Ryan asked, "and you know how they have cannons on the side?"

"Yeah?" James asked.

"Get ready to fire from the left window." Ryan replied. "And freeze the cars behind us with your magic."

James nodded and quickly scrambled over to the window. He looked back at Fluttershy with some remorse, "Please don't hate me for doing any of this, I know you hate violence but…"

Fluttershy smiled and said something that he never expected from her, "Take them all out James."

James laughed and pointed his hand out of the window as the beams of magic kept whizzing by, missing the car each and every time.

"_Jesus they can't hit the broad side of a barn." _James thought to himself as they were almost at the road.

"Ready Dashie?" Ryan asked.

"Ready!" she said with a stern look, eyebrows furrowed as she looked forward. As soon as the truck hit the tall grass, Ryan shouted, "Now!"

Rainbow Dash turned the steering wheel to the left so that the car was now broadside of the incoming three cruisers.

But that wasn't a problem, as James and Ryan both sent two massive blast of magic at the cars, freezing them in place. Ryan froze two of the cars, one being the SUV , and James froze the last cruiser. Officer Cantor and the other police officers were al trying to get out of the cars, even resorting to teleporting, only to realize that the were trapped. So Alex's car was now on the road, as if it had stopped in the middle of a normal drive, and the three police cruisers were frozen; two in an aura of cyan and one in a yellow aura.

"Hmmmm." Ryan thought out loud, "what should we do with them James?"

"I've got an idea, let's shot put these bastards." James said with a smirk before lifting up the cruiser he had control over into the air; higher, and higher, and higher, until it was almost one hundred feet in the air.

"This one's for Fluttershy." He muttered before he flicked his wrist, sending the car flying off into the distance. A small "boom" could be heard as it hit the ground, indicating an explosion.

Ryan smiled as he lifted the two cruisers that he had frozen, including the one with Officer Cantor inside, into the air at a similar height before he nodded in approval, "And this is for my parents. One cruiser for each of them."

With that, he sent the two cars flying off. Officer Cantor was able to create a force field around the two cruisers as they fell to slow their descent so the cars didn't explode, but it still didn't completely eliminate the pain that they felt from the impact. Once on the ground, a very irritated Officer Cantor and the other three officers teleported back to Wilmont City Hall to join up with Discord and Obscure Darkness.

Ryan and James looked at each other and pounded their fists saying, "Liberal-Conservative Power-Play Bitches." And laughing as Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy just looked at them with confusion.

"Political humor." Ryan said with a shrug. Rainbow Dash just kept staring at him in awe, as if he had just performed a sonic rainboom of his own. She then smiled at him and lunged at him, planting a kiss on his lips. She didn't have to lunge the whole way, however, as Ryan met her as well. After savoring a victory kiss, which was even sweeter than either of them expected, they broke apart and looked each other in the eyes while they smiled.

They then heard what sounded like more making out and turned around to see James and Fluttershy kissing in a way that shocked both of them. Well, as far as Fluttershy goes, as she was getting into it more than they pictured was possible for the timid mare.

"Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash asked with a chuckle, causing both of them to break off their hug and blush.

"Sorry Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy said as she rubbed the back of her head with her right hoof and smiled in embarrassment, "but James was just so brave back there, I couldn't resist giving him a little kiss."

"And don't think we didn't see the same from you two." James added as he pointed at Rainbow Dash and Ryan, who just chuckled. After all, their affection wasn't reserved in anyway as far as kissing in front of their friends went.

Ryan turned back to the road and started up the engine when Rainbow Dash put her hoof onto his hand. He turned to her and she gave him a kind smile, "You're parents would be proud of you."

Ryan nodded, but also felt some of his jubilance go away as his parents' faces flashed into his mind, making him want to cry some more. But all he did was sniffle and turn back to the road and drive off, uttering a "Thanks Dashie." Before speeding off.

James pulled his phone out and saw that Carl sent him a text.

"Yo Ryan, Carl wants us to meet at his house in twenty minutes."

"Okay."

"Can you make it there that fast?" James asked, and before Ryan could respond with his typical reference to the show, Rainbow Dash interrupted him.

"He can get us there in ten seconds flat!"

Ryan chuckled a bit as her antics did manage to make him feel a little better about his parents.

But for now, there was a God of chaos that needed to be defeated

Next stop, Carl's house…or what was left of it, that is.

**Hope you enjoyed that chapter. **

**Please let me know what you thought of it, and thanks for reading.**

**And, as I say after every chapter…**

**Go Giants! Go Rainbow Dash!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21- Invading City Hall**

**Okay, this chapter doesn't have much action in it, but next chapter will. This is the start of the confrontation.**

**Also I hope the narrative and descriptive parts of this chapter are better than they have been, as I realize that I've had some issues with them in previous chapters. **

**And I only own my OCs.**

**City Hall- Brett's Office**

Obscure lay on his stomach in his office, as he was still unconscious from slamming into the wall. He let out a groan as dreams of his past began to fill his mind.

**Obscure's Dream**

It was a bright and sunny day many years ago. Birds were chirping, and the atmosphere throughout Canterlot had a positive, hopeful feeling to it. Today was graduation day for the senior class of Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns.

All of the unicorns that were in the graduating class stood in front of a large gloriously adorned stage. They wore blue robes and the classic graduation caps. Their eyes were wide as Princess Celestia stood on stage and was finishing her speech for them. They all watched in awe as the alicorn goddess spoke about their educational experiences to wrap up their graduation.

"And I am so proud of each and everypony in the audience here today." Princess Celestia continued, "You all have worked so hard to get where you are, through all of the exams, spells and stress, this is your reward. You all have bright futures ahead of you and for that, I say congratulations."

The entire audience and graduating class stomped their hooves on the ground in thunderous applause.

Crescent and Bright were sitting in the mass of unicorns that were graduating, both wearing their own graduation attire that matched the other unicorns, though both did have more tassels on their cap than most of the other unicorns did, indicating they were at the top of their class. The two friends had managed to not only pass through Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, but also finished at the top of their class.

In fact, thanks to Bright's encouragement and assistance, Crescent not only caught up to his best friend in his ability to perform magic; he surpassed it. He had gone from being the "blank flank" loser of Canterlot, to becoming the unicorn that all of the mares wanted to date, that all of the stallions had envied. Well, all of the stallions except for Bright, who was extremely proud of Crescent for accomplishing everything that he had. Bright could have let some sense of jealousy overtake him, but he felt happy that his friend was as popular as he was. In his mind, if anyone deserved some popularity, it was Crescent.

Crescent also became the one that the Princess always went to when she needed one of her students to perform a spell as a part of a demonstration. Crescent would teleport masses of students from one end of the stage to the other, he would levitate boulders three times his size, and he even performed his moon disappearance spell to crowds; the same spell that had given him his cutie-mark, and the spell that impressed Princess Celestia the most.

Once the applause ended, Princess Celestia continued, "Now I'd like this opportunity to invite up onto the stage, the head of your class. A unicorn that is not only my most improved student, but also one of the best students I've ever had."

Crescent grinned and looked over at Bright, knowing that he was about to get called up on stage to receive a medal for being the top student of the class. Both friends exchanged a quick smile with one another as Princess Celestia called, "Crescent Light, will you come up here please?"

Crescent excitedly began to make his way up to the stage as Bright triumphantly pumped his hoof in the air. Once Crescent made it to the top of the stage, Princess Celestia gave him a warm smile and used her magic to place the gold medal on his neck, one that she gave out to her top students.

"Congratulations Crescent." Said Princess Celestia as Crescent stood before her with a big grin on his face. The medal clicked itself around his neck.

"Thank you Princess Celestia." He said quietly as he looked down at the medal in complete awe. He held it up to his face to get a better look at it, the sunlight reflecting off of the gold, giving it a heavenly appearance.

He then looked up to see his entire class stomping their hooves in applause for his achievement. He held the medal up from his neck so they could get a better look at it as he grinned triumphantly. His eyes landed on Bright, who had stopped stomping and waved to Crescent with a big grin on his face, so ecstatic to see his friend have so much success after years of struggle.

Both friends looked to have rich, rewarding, successful lives, never forgetting their bond.

Unfortunately, fate had other plans.

**Wilmont City Hall**

Obscure's eyes slowly opened as his consciousness began to return to him after his impact-induced slumber. He realized that he was still on the floor of his office after having been launched into the wall by Twilight's spell. He let out a groan as he sat up against the wall.

He slowly turned around to see the large crack in the wall where he had hit. He also saw a picture that he had hung up on the wall, on the ground; glass everywhere as the frame was shattered. He could see the picture was of him and Bright immediately after the graduation ceremony. He still had the brilliant, gold medallion hung around his neck, as he held it up for the camera with one hoof while his other hoof was draped around Bright's shoulder.

He looked at the image of Bright and let out a deep, almost depressed sigh before rubbing his head, "Well Bright, at least you can take solace that your niece is one strong unicorn, just like you."

After muttering these words he slowly pushed himself up off of the ground, shaking his head to forget the vivid dream he had.

"Ugh why am I having these dreams?" Obscure asked no one in particular.

"Because your guilt is finally eating away at you." Came the familiar, young voice Crescent, who was looking up at Obscure sternly.

"Why now?" Obscure asked, now with more confusion than rage, as he was genuinely concerned. "I've killed many ponies and people, why didn't it come to me before. Why now?"

Crescent gave a small, sad little shrug, "Better late than never."

Obscure opened his mouth to respond when his attention was grabbed when the door to his office flew open, revealing one of the government agents that had taken part in the mall chase a few days before.

"Obscure, Discord wants to see you."

Obscure tried to turn back to Crescent, only to discover that the little colt was once again gone. He took a deep breath and nodded, "I'm coming."

He slowly trotted after the government officer, his face now showing slight concern and sadness, as he entered the dimly lit hallway.

**Carl's House**

"I can't believe this is all that's left." Carl muttered as he stared at the charred, smoking rubble where his house had stood only a day before. Just like every house in the neighborhood, Carl's house was no longer standing; only the remains of it were left.

Both he and Twilight were wading through the still-warm pile of debris, eyes scanning the rubble to see if anything had survived the destruction. On the front lawn, Alex, Applejack, Pete, Pinkie Pie, Louis and Rarity were all talking amongst themselves as they waited for Ryan, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and James to arrive from the park.

They decided to let Carl and Twilight look through the debris of the house by themselves, giving both of them some space. After all, Carl was going through the home he lived in since he was young, now nothing more than scattered, charred remains. All of the memories that he had accumulated as he grew up, all that remained of his father's memory save for the car parked in the street, were gone; destroyed at the hands of people that were working at achieving nothing more than total chaos.

Carl stepped over a charred table, a shattered 5th grade school photo og him that had been framed by his mother. A picture that she would often stop in front of and look at, eyes filled with nostalgia, before she would call Carl over and say clichéd things like "I can't believe how fast you're growing up", or "I'm going to miss you when you head off to college ".

A teary-eyed Carl finally reached what used to be his father's office, the room that had been converted into the library after his death. But there was no desk, no chair, and no shelf full of books that amazed Twilight when she first saw them. Back when Carl thought that she was just Tara, a beautiful girl he hooked up with at a party.

There was nothing, save for the burnt book pages and charred wood from the desk that Carl's father once sat behind to do his bills, work, whatever he needed to do.

While his misty eyes scanned the once proud office, Carl looked down to see what appeared to be a book that had survived the fire mostly unscathed. Twilight watched as he bent down and picked the book up. He slowly stood back up and examined the book with a expression that was mixed with nostalgia and sadness. Twilight walked over to Carl and put her hoof onto his leg. He looked down at her to see her sympathetic face, her sad eyes that showed how she felt about the situation, and how badly she felt that Carl had to go through it.

"I'm so sorry Carl." Twilight said sadly as Carl brushed off the book to see that it had _Lewis Family Album_ engraved on the cover in gold, cursive lettering.

"It's okay Twi, no one was hurt that's all that counts." He muttered before carefully opening the book to see if the pictures were damaged at all. After brushing some dust and grime off of the pages that he opened to, Carl was thankful to notice that the pictures were still in fine shape. He opened the book back to see pictures that ranged from the last varsity soccer game he played earlier that year, to his third-grade school play.

He slowly sat himself down on the warm ground and began to flip through the pages. Twilight sat down next to him and peered over his shoulder as he began to look at pictures from his sixth birthday in 2001. Once picture showed his father behind him, smiling at the camera while the tiny Carl, with a little cone-shaped birthday hat on, blew out the candles on his cake.

"Your father really seemed like a great person, Carl." Twilight said, as she looked at the beaming face of the adult man behind her the younger image of her colt-friend.

"Yeah, he was." Carl said with a sniffle, "and I really do miss him."

He fingered the picture sadly. Twilight then thought of something to take Carl's mind off of the image of his father, and hopefully make him feel a little better. "What did you wish for?" Carl looked at her with confusion but she just smiled and pointed her hoof at the picture, "When you blew out the candles, did you make a wish?"

"Oh yeah," Carl said with a chuckle, "um, of course. But I don't really remember what it was. It's been so long and my wishes have changed over the years. Like, when I was around that age I wanted to have a pet charmander."

"Charmander? What's a charmander?" Twilight asked, her head tilted to the side a bit as if to reflect her confusion.

"It's a type of Pokémon, which is a creature from a popular card game, cartoon…"

"Like me?" she asked with a small smile.

Carl laughed a little at her inquisitive attitude, which was typical of her, "Sort of. Anyway until I was about ten, I wished that I could have one for my very own. Back then the logic part of my brain didn't kick in yet so I always believed that if I wished hard enough, I could get one. Even if it was fictional"

Twilight nodded in understanding. Carl then smiled at Twilight and gave her a small shrug, "Of course after meeting you and realizing that you exist, I guess the basis of my wishing wasn't completely illogical."

Twilight giggled and leaned her head against Carl as he turned his attention back to the album. "What about when you got older? What's your biggest wish then? What is it now?"

Carl opened his mouth to answer, but then closed it. He let out a deep sigh as if the wish pained him in some way. Twilight realized what it was he would wish for and put her hoof up, "I'm sorry Carl, I forgot….it's your father, isn't it?"

Carl nodded as he sniffled a bit, "Yeah I…I wish I was able to save him back at the hospital." He then turned to Twilight with tears in his eyes, "that the spell worked, and he would wake up from death and give me that smile of his, and we'd hug and…" Carl couldn't continue speaking as he felt himself getting choked up on his emotions, almost ready to start crying again. Twilight sensed this so she wrapped her front hooves around him in a comforting hug.

Out on the lawn, the others were watching the scene play out behind them.

"Why does it seem like someone or somepony in this group is always crying?" Louis asked.

"We have very weird lives." Pete answered, "and in the past days most of us have seen those very lives deteriorate."

"What do you mean?" Rarity asked Pete.

Pete just looked at her with an almost unemotional glare before staring off into space and talking like nothing was wrong. "My parents disowned me, Ryan's parents died, and from what I heard about James, his parents were scolding him about his love of Fluttershy."

"What will you guys do after defeating Discord?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Ah thought they were gonna move to Ponyville with us." Applejack said with some confusion, as if she were perplexed as to why Pinkie was asking a question that she felt had an obvious answer.

"We have to see what the Princess says." Pete muttered, "Louis, Alex and Carl have lives to get back to. But I don't, Ryan doesn't and I don't think James does."

"You think I have a life here?" Alex asked as he turned to the others with a slightly angry expression on his face, "Last night my drunken asshole of a stepfather was strangling me and my mother didn't do a damn thing to help. The only one who had ever stood up for me was AJ. She's the first being, pony or human, who actually put herself in danger just to protect me."

"When Applejack bucked the shit out of my stepfather, my mother, who is supposed to love me and protect me, ran over to his side. She asked if he was okay, she was _CRYING_! For fuck's sake she was crying over him after he tried to kill me! Crying for him moments after she ignored my pleas for help when his hands were wrapped around my throat in a death-grip!" Alex kicked a stone that was on the ground in rage, "So if I am given a choice to live with my asshole parents, or live with the girl I love and her great family in a world that I've dreamt of living in. What life do you think I'll choose? Why the fuck would I want to go back to my old life?"

The group stood around in silence for a little while more, contemplating what to do. Not just to defeat Discord, but what they were going to do after. Pete had already decided to live with Pinkie Pie if the Princess allowed him to, and obviously Alex was decided. Only Louis was having an internal war with himself. Sure he had his aunt and uncle who, while not substitutes for parents, had always been supportive and kind to him. He also had his soccer skills and a division one school wooing him for his insane talent, and even if he didn't want to continue soccer as a career, he could always use the scholarship and play soccer while majoring in a subject that he'd want to peruse.

But would any of that matter if he never saw Rarity again after realizing his love for her? Would it matter if he would always be disappointed with other girls because of the high bar she had set for them to match; a bar that they could never reach? He was torn.

Eventually, their pondering was cut short when Carl and Twilight made their way back over just as the sound of an approaching vehicle was heard barreling down the road.

They all turned to see Alex's SUV speeding down the road blasting out "Back in Black" on the radio. Alex's face fell into a state of complete shock as he saw the damage done to his truck. All of the windows save for most of the windshield, the back window, and one of the windows that was at the trunk of the car, were shattered. Bullet holes riddled the side and front of the car. The bumper was horribly dented, and he could swear that he heard the hissing of air coming from one, if not two, of his tires. Sure the other two cars, Louis and Carl's, had been damaged terribly, but Alex had hoped his got out of the city relatively scot-free.

How wrong he was.

He also most likely didn't expect Ryan to go on a little voyage through a hiking trail that was never meant for a vehicle, and now everyone could see why.

"Holy hay, that ain't good." Applejack said in shock at the horrible condition of the once proud, badass truck. Alex began to storm over to meet the truck, his truck; the one he had for years and was always proud of. His eye twitched and his face turned beet red. His jaw hung open for a second as he tried to find words that could appropriately sum up the situation.

He then found seven that seemed to do the trick.

"What the fuck happened to my car!" Alex shouted in a rage as Ryan drove the SUV over to park in front of the rubble that had once been Carl's house. Ryan looked out of the driver's side window and let out a nervous laugh, "He-he, sorry man. I had to lose some police unicorns and decided to take a detour."

"What detour was that, a fucking warzone?"

Ryan raised an eyebrow, "Um Alex…we _did_ drive through a warzone. Actually most of the damage here is from that." He said, gesturing to the entire car. "What did you expect, you car to come out without a scratch?"

Ryan turned off the car before he and the others began to get out of the damaged car. Alex tapped his foot in irritation as Ryan walked over to him before he continued with his excuses.

"And I also had to drive on the park's hiking trail," Ryan said with a shrug, as if it didn't have anything to do with the damage to Alex's car. Alex just stared, his face still red in anger, and his fists clenched so tightly that his nails almost managed to break the skin.

"I hate you so much right now." Alex growled before Applejack got up onto her hind-legs and stood in-between Ryan and Alex, looking Alex right in the eyes, "It's okay sugarcube. Let it go, he couldn't help it."

"If he took the damn cruiser instead of my truck then he could have." Alex mumbled as he walked back over to the others, who were still standing on Carl's front lawn, or what had once been Carl's front lawn.

As they walked back to the group they all huddled around Carl and Twilight. Carl took notice of the fact that everyone seemed to be around them both. While it wasn't surprising for Twilight, as she was the leader of her friends in the show, being in the center with her gave him an uneasy feeling.

"So what, are me and Twi like the leaders or something?" Carl asked.

"Yep!" Pinkie Pie said without hesitation.

"Well it's just that Twilight's the leader of our group and since she's your partner, it only made sense that you'd be our leader as well." Fluttershy said quietly.

Carl let out a deep sigh. He was not used to being a leader. Well, at least not intentionally. When he hung out with Ryan and James, they all seemed to be on a level playing field with one another, each member contributing an equal amount to the whole trio. But then he began to think about how he had already sort of been the designated leader since Twilight and the girls arrived. After all, he was the first person they met.

"Okay, fine." Carl groaned as he put the photo album underneath his left armpit for the time being, "I suppose it's time to come up with a plan to get into City Hall?"

Everyone and everypony nodded in response. Carl nodded, "Okay, I think we need to go close enough to City Hall so we can see what it's like right now without Discord knowing we're there. That way we can see what kind of security they have on the outside, and come up with a plan to get through it. That way we don't just wing it without some sort of plan."

"What sort of security should we expect?" Rarity asked.

"I assume unicorns, government agents and anarchists would create most of the security. After all, those are the most logical enemies." Carl shrugged before he looked down at Twilight, "unless the Princess gave you anymore warnings."

Twilight shook her head, "No. I'm as unsure as you are."

Carl nodded before he turned to the others, "So does everyone here agree with that plan?"

Everyone and everypony nodded and they began to pile back into their demolished cars, all except for Carl, who pulled the photo album out from under his armpit. He held it out in front of him and looked at it.

Twilight opened the doors to Carl's sedan with her magic for Ryan and Rainbow Dash to get in since Alex had kicked them out of his truck in his rage. Actually, that's not entirely accurate. Alex only kicked Ryan out of his car and Rainbow Dash followed him, once again proving to him why she was the Element of Loyalty.

After Twilight watched Ryan and Rainbow Dash get into the car, she trotted back over to Carl. He was where the front door of his house normally would have stood, but now just led to the heap of rubble he had waded through earlier. He slowly bent down and placed the photo album ever so gently onto the doormat, which was still intact even though it was now covered in a thick layer of dust and debris.

Once he did this, he stood back up and let out a deep sigh. He didn't notice as Twilight walked over to his side and looked down at the album before looking up into Carl's eyes with a confused glare.

"Are you sure that you want to leave that here?" Twilight asked as she pointed to the photo album.

Carl turned to her, just noticing that she was standing beside him. He gave her a small nod, "Yeah. If I take it into that warzone, Lord knows what'll happen to it. Besides, it belongs here…it belongs in my home, or, where my home used to be. It belongs with the remains of my other memories, after all it's filled with them."

He slowly turned and started to walk back to the car with Twilight, who gave a quick look back to where Carl had placed the album, trotting off after him. Once inside, Carl looked at his house through the rearview mirror one last time before he drove off, just like he had when he and his family were evacuating that morning. He felt saddened at the revelation that his house was gone, and that his look-back earlier that day was the last time he ever saw it standing.

The only thing that made him feel better was the presence of Twilight as she rested her head on his shoulder while he drove off down the street before turning out of the neighborhood with Alex and Louis' car in tow.

**Wilmont City Hall**

"What do you mean they escaped?" Discord asked with a hint of irritation in his voice as Officer Cantor told him the news. Officer Cantor and Brett stood before him with worried looks on both of their faces. Also in the office were some of the police officers and the government agents that had taken part in the mall chase.

"Well, sir…"

"Of for the love of…you can take off your disguise Shaded, I know you're a unicorn." Discord muttered as he rubbed his temples in annoyance.

Officer Cantor gave his boss a small nod before he closed his eyes. His forehead glowed and he was soon engulfed in a dark blue aura. Once the glow was gone, where the police officer had once been now a unicorn stood. Officer Cantor had transformed into Shaded Deceit. His unicorn form had indigo fur and a striped gold and black mane and tail. His eyes were a terrifying shade of gold that matched the stripes in his mane and tail, making them both brilliant and terrifying at the same time.

Once he was completely turned into a unicorn, Cantor, now Shaded, let out a sigh, "Sir we chased them through the trail, but they were just too crafty."

"You couldn't just teleport to the park and grab them?" Discord asked, which made Officer Cantor start to shake.

"B-but sir, I thought you wanted us to use the element of surprise to mess with them before we defeated them."

Discord thought for a moment and then nodded, "Yeah, your right. That was my fault. Besides, I do agree that messing with the minds of my enemies is how I prefer to defeat them."

He then began to think for a second before he smiled, "Yes…yes this actually could work out to my liking."

Obscure took a step forward with a serious look on his face, stepping in front of Shaded who shot an annoyed at Obscure for cutting off the discussion he and Discord were having.

"Discord, what are we to do? They're on their way up here as we speak."

Discord nodded before he turned to the government agents, "Set up a perimeter around the City Hall. Tell me if anyone is approaching and I'll make the preparations."

The agents nodded and walked off. Discord then turned to the others, "As for you, I want you to stay in here with my newly acquired team unicorns from the Buffalo S.W.A.T. team and if those kids and their little mare-friends manage to get by our guards outside, make sure they do not get to the fifth floor." He said, indicating that he was on the fifth floor of the building. "Do you understand?"

They all nodded, "Yes, sir."

With that, they were off to the different parts of the buildings to prepare for the possibility of a break in.

Meanwhile, Discord sat back against his chair and let out a deep sigh, "This will be fun."

**City Streets**

The twelve elements had reached the city about twenty minutes after leaving Carl's former neighborhood, which had been reduced to nothing more than a street surrounded by charred remains of the houses that once lined it.

Most of the anarchists had moved on to other parts of the city to fight the military. Other anarchists were still at the mall, burning it to the ground in a stance against the establishment as they had when Louis, Pete, Pinkie Pie and Rarity all left.

Only a couple of anarchists, around ten to fifteen, were hanging out in front of Wilmont City Hall. They were lit up as if they were in the hallway of the High School during the break in-between classes instead of in the middle of the city during a war in which they were fighting. They all held their guns by their sides. Their bandanas were hung around their neck instead of over their face so that they could better converse with each other.

But the streets were not completely absent of signs from the struggle. Bodies of soldiers and anarchists lay strewn all over the city, blood accumulating around their bodies or running down into the sewer. Trucks, tanks, hummers, and jeeps were all parked, smashed, burning, or reduced to nothing more than a mass of twisted metal; completely unrecognizable from its former look. Buildings were still on fire and businesses were completely destroyed, only leaving the black, charred remains of what they used to be.

But all twelve of them chose not to acknowledge the horrible imagery. Even the girls, who still were acting uneasy about all of the death and destruction, had managed to get over their initial sadness and fear in order to focus on the task at hand.

"What's it like?" Twilight asked as Carl and James peeked around the corner of the building that they hid behind. This building was less damaged than most of the others, and it was on the opposite side of the street as city hall. Therefore, it was an opportune vantage point for the group to scope out the area before coming up with a plan to get into the building.

"Not too well guarded, but that's probably because most of them are in the building itself. Wait!" Carl said as he noticed a line of government agents, about fifteen to twenty of them, walking out into the street. "Hey, those are the people that chased us at the mall." Carl muttered.

"Where?" Twilight asked as she peeked around to corner of the building to see the same suit-coat wearing men waking out into the road. "Oh, well they shouldn't be an issue. After all I didn't notice them using any magic. I think they're just humans, we can take them."

"I hope so." James answered without taking his eyes off of the men.

Unfortunately, they were soon proven wrong as all of the agents removed what appeared to be silver bracelets that had been on their left wrists. Once the bracelets were off, the agents were engulfed in a white light before they were gone. In their place was a large group of midnight-black pegasi that stood stoically in front of the building, their indigo eyes serious and determined as they scanned the sky.

"Well…that's just bad luck." James muttered unenthusiastically. The three of them watched as each pegasi launched itself from the ground before spreading their massive, intimidating wings to take flight. They all began to soar around city hall like a group of hawks circling its prey; eyes were vigilant as they continued to look for any possible intruders.

Carl, James and Twilight all turned away from the corner to look at the others, who looked at them with serious faces from behind the wall of the building, even further hidden behind the building.

"Well. What did y'all see?" Applejack asked.

"Is it bad?" Fluttershy asked nervously.

"Pegasi," Twilight said with a hint of disappointment, "they have a lot of pegasi circling the building right now. If we even wander a foot into the street from behind this building, we'll be exposed."

"That's just wonderful." Rarity muttered with complete sarcasm.

"Great," spat Louis, "now what do we do? Just sit here like a bunch of cowards until they find us?"

"No! I say we fight them." Rainbow Dash said with anger as she raised her hooves up into the air and punched at the air, "I can take them."

"But you can't fly." Ryan said, pointing to her still bandaged wings.

"Actually…" Twilight began, which draw all of their attention to her. She slowly trotted over to Ryan and Rainbow Dash, "…I've been thinking. There are healing spells that I might not be powerful enough to cast by myself, but if everyone does it together, then maybe we can fix her wings so she could fly up there and distract them."

Everyone nodded before another worry hit Ryan "Wait! I don't want her going up there by herself!"

"Ryan we don't have a choice." Rainbow Dash said sternly. "I can draw their attention so you guys can sneak into the building. But before I do that I need my wings back." She aid, gesturing to her still bandaged wings, which were clearly swollen from being broken, even if they had been protected by the white bandages that surrounded them.

Ryan then looked up at Twilight, "The doctor that treated her was a unicorn, why couldn't he help her wings heal if we can?"

"Because unless Princess Celestia or Princess Luna are right here with us, it takes more than one source of magic to heal a pony instantly. In fact it usually takes quite a few sources."

Ryan was about to say something more when he felt Rainbow Dash tap him on the leg. He looked down to see her giving him a pleading look, "Please Ryan, let me do this."

Ryan wanted to protest more, but then he did realize how they'd have to get past the pegasi, and based on what Twilight had told them earlier, she most likely wouldn't be able to teleport them into a building she wasn't familiar with.

He looked at Twilight and nodded, "Okay, I'll let her go up there."

"Great," Twilight said with a grin before turning to the others, who were all glowing in their aura, ready to add their magic to Ryan and Twilight's so that Rainbow Dash could fly. "Now what I need you all to do is imagine yourself healing her wings and then point your aura at her, got it?"

All of the boys nodded. With that, they and Twilight pointed their auras at Rainbow Dash, aimed and fired. Rainbow Dash was enveloped in a rainbow mix of cyan, yellow, white, orange, pink and violet aura. Her eyes were shut and she grimaced as she felt the bones in her wings realigning, shifting, and mending. After a few seconds, the aura disappeared and Rainbow Dash opened her eyes.

She looked around at everyone and everypony. "Did…did it work?" she asked as she looked back at her wings.

"Hold on." Twilight muttered as she used her magic to unravel the bandages on Rainbow Dash's wings to watch as her wings furled out, unbroken and showing no sign of ever being damaged. Rainbow Dash's mouth curled into a huge grin.

"They…they feel awesome!" she beamed with a grin before looking at Twilight and Ran, "They're better! All right! Thanks Everypony!"

They all smiled back at her and nodded, even though Ryan was now nervous about her safety. Rainbow Dash lifted herself off of the ground and began to fly in little circles in the air, making sure her wings were completely functional.

"Wow Rainbow Dash, I never would have guessed your wings were ever broken." Pinkie Pie said excitedly. "They look great!"

"Yeah sugarcube, ya look mighty strong." Applejack said with a chuckle. "Just like they were before breakin'."

Rainbow Dash flapped in place and grinned. "This is so awesome! I'm back!"

"So Rainbow Dash can you get the attention of those pegasi?" Twilight asked as she motioned her head in the direction of Wilmont City Hall.

"Pfft," Rainbow Dash scoffed, "No problem. It'll be a piece of cake."

Ryan sighed and turned to Rainbow Dash with a very serious expression on his face, "Dashie, listen to me. Once you take care of most of the pegasi, I want you to meet me on the fourth floor of the building. See the giant "W" in "Wilmont City Hall"?"

She flew over to the corner and peeked around it to get a good view of what Ryan was talking about. On the front of the building was "Wilmont City Hall" in white block letters. It was in the small space of the building that was just above the third floor and just below the fourth.

Rainbow Dash nodded, "Yeah."

"Meet me at the window right above it in about ten minutes. Got it?" Ryan asked and Rainbow Dash nodded.

"Got it."

"What do the rest of us do once Rainbow Dash distracts those pegasi?" Rarity asked, taking a step forward.

"We sneak in. If Rainbow Dash doesn't distract them like the pegasi, we can freeze the anarchists."

They all agreed with this and decided to set their plan into motion, starting with Rainbow Dash, who was taking deep breaths, preparing herself to fly away as quickly as possible.

"Ready Rainbow Dash?" Carl asked.

Rainbow Dash cracked her neck and other joints to loosen her body up, "Born."

Carl turned to the others, "Everybody and everypony else ready?"

After receiving a unanimous nod, he turned back to Rainbow Dash, "You're up Rainbow Dash."

"Awesome." Rainbow Dash said with a grin before she pushed herself into the air and zoomed off towards the building where the pegasi were still circling, looking for any sign of intruders or threats that could come either by land or by air.

They didn't really have look too long, however, because suddenly a cyan and rainbow streak zoomed towards them.

"Halt!" shouted one of the pegasi, making Rainbow Dash "screech" to a halt in mid-air, making a sound similar to a car that suddenly stops after going too fast. She looked up at the pegasus that had called her and waved happily at him, as if she were on a routine flight in Equestria rather than flying a decoy route in a war-torn city so her friends could go stop the God of chaos.

"Oh, hey there. What's up?" Rainbow Dash asked nonchalantly.

A few more pegasi surrounded the one pegasus that had called out to her before he spoke up again to the rainbow-maned mare.

The one pegasus stared at Rainbow Dash with a suspicious glare, "You're a long way from home little mare."

"You don't say." Rainbow Dash said with pure sarcasm and a cocky smile still on her face, ready for the challenge she knew was coming.

"We could escort you back to Equestria if you'd like." The pegasus said as he gestured to the others who were floating next to him. They all shot threatening looks at Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash put her hoof to her chin as if she were thinking before she shook her head, "Nah, I think I'll just do some laps around this building here." She pointed to City Hall with her hooves. "I hope you guys don't mind."

"I don't think so." Said the one pegasus as he whistled. Suddenly, all of the other pegasi converged on Rainbow Dash, surrounding her as she kept floating in place. She did not take her eyes off of the one, main pegasus that was in front of her and she had been talking to. Instead, she just kept smiling in a way that made her look unfazed by the sudden appearance of so many pegasi.

"You're going to have to come with us."

"Nah, I don't feel like it."

"You don't seem afraid." Growled the pegasus with a small bit of surprise as well as anger towards Rainbow Dash's unfazed attitude. "Do you think you pose a threat to us? You think you can get away from us?"

"I've outflown everypony I've met before, you shouldn't be any different."

"Even when there are no many of us, and only one of you?" the pegasus mocked as he took a small flap closer to Rainbow Dash, who was unfazed by this threatening behavior. "I'd reconsider my confidence if I were you."

"Meh, the number shouldn't be a problem. Especially when each one of you has the intelligence of a rock." Rainbow Dash scoffed with a mocking grin. "I'm not even an egghead, but I'm sky-smart, which is more than I can say for you."

"How are you so sure you can out-fly us?"

Rainbow Dash laughed, "Because I'm Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier in all of Equestria! You're gonna need a lot more than twenty or so pegasi to catch me!"

With that, Rainbow Dash stuck her tongue out at the pegasi and zoomed away from the City Hall.

"After her!" shouted the main pegasus that, up to this point, had done all of the talking while the others simply surrounded Rainbow Dash and gave her intimidating looks. On command, all twenty pegasi sped off after Rainbow Dash while she weaved in and out of buildings. She looked behind her to see the pegasi were right on her tail. Her competitive ego began to grow. Even though this was a serious situation, and these pegasi most likely wanted to hurt her badly, or worse, Rainbow Dash was excited. Any challenge that she had confidence in herself to perform gave her a huge ego boost, and this was no different. So as she saw the approaching pegasi, she grinned even more.

"All right, let the game begin." She sneered to herself before she turned her attention back to the air ahead of her and continued to fly deeper into the city as the entire group of pegasi followed her.

Meanwhile, Carl, Louis, James, Ryan, Alex and Pete had managed to freeze the anarchists that were outside of the building so that they could walk by. Once they got past them them, Carl turned to the group of kids and smiled, "Hang on guts, let me try something."

He turned and closed his eyes. His purple aura began to overtake the other auras that the five boys had surrounded the anarchists with. This was followed by a sudden "pop" and bright violet flash before all of the anarchists that had been frozen in place disappeared.

Everyone just stared wide-eyed at the sight. Twilight, however, was smirking, impressed by Carl's magic ability.

"Holy shit dude did you just teleport them?" Louis asked in shock and Carl nodded.

"Wait, I thought you needed to know where you were teleporting something to if you wanted to do it." James asked.

Carl raised his aura-covered hand up to the air and smiled. "Not exactly."

He then did just what he had with the police truck. There was a purple pop before all of the anarchists fell from the sky, screaming, before they all hit the ground with a "thud". They were all quiet.

"Oh my, will they be okay?" Fluttershy asked.

"I don't know, and frankly I've stopped caring about these fucking losers." Carl answered bitterly before he pointed to the anarchists, "and I think it's time we steal from these bastards. Let's see how they like to be robbed of everything they hold dear."

With that, Carl and the others walked over to the limp bodies of the anarchists to rob them of their guns.

After all, it was always good to have some means of protection, even with magic.

**Skies Above Wilmont**

Rainbow Dash was trying her best to lose the pegasi in the maze of buildings that was downtown Wilmont. She looked behind her to see three pegasi gaining on her.

"_Uh-oh, better take this up a notch. Let see how high you bozos can go up."_ She thought to herself before she propelled upwards to a higher altitude, hoping that the pegasi following her wouldn't be used to it. You see; it takes a lot more wing strength to keep flapping vertically when compared to horizontally. Pegasi often would get tired at a quicker rate when flying up in a vertical path than they would by simply going the normal, horizontal path. This is something Rainbow Dash was great at because she had to do it so often in order to perform her sonic rainboom.

She looked down to see that some of the pegasi had to stop following because they were too tired to keep up with her. But about ten pegasi were still on her tail. She then stopped going up and took a horizontal path. It was only a few seconds before one of the pegasi swiped at her tail. She looked back with a scowl and stopped flying so that the pegasus that was right behind her slammed into her.

She grabbed him around the torso and began to make a rapid descent towards the ground. The wind rushed by them as they plummeted, both struggling for control over the other. They somersaulted as they went down, going through the clouds as the buildings below came into view.

Eventually, Rainbow Dash managed to kick the pegasi off of her just as one of the other pegasi that had become too tired to keep flying vertically, was making his way towards them at a horizontal path. The two pegasi collided and proceeded to fall to the ground, spiraling out of control. Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and smiled at her work before she saw the other pegasi closing in on her. Her eyes went wide as the mass of black ponies flew towards her.

"_Dang this is gonna take a while." _She thought before she flew off again, the perusing pegasi not far behind.

**Wilmont City Hall**

The eleven elements had made their way into the building after they took care of the anarchists outside, but not before snatching up some of their weapons. In the group, only Ryan, Alex and Louis had ever fired a gun before, so after a quick, one minute-long "how to use" discussion on shotguns and magnums, as those were the only weapons that they picked up off of the anarchists, they made their way into the building, each with a gun of their own, but Ryan, Louis and Alex had the most.

They didn't realize that Discord had an elaborate plan all set up.

The inside of the building was almost completely dark, save for a few lights; it appeared that the power was out. Some of the orange light from fires outside crept into the building to give it some added light, but it was a truly eerie place, especially given the circumstances for why the group of kids and ponies were there.

Almost as soon as they walked into the building, the group saw three police officers standing in front of them. When they saw the group, the three officers began preparing their magic when Carl, Pete and Twilight knock them back with their own. Once they were on the ground, the group continued walking.

"Where do ya reckon Discord's at?" Applejack asked.

"I'm not sure." Twilight muttered before looking up at the ceiling, "But if I were to guess, I'd say somewhere up there. Higher up in the building."

Suddenly, a demonic laugh echoed throughout the building, making everyone and everypony in the group look around frantically for the source. The laugh bounced around them, seeming to deflect off of the walls infinitely; surrounding the nervous group.

"Who's there?" Louis shouted angrily, making his hand light up in white aura.

"_Just getting ready for my little game."_ Said the familiar, flamboyant, cocky voice that made the girls shudder as memories from their last encounter with the God of chaos resurfaced in their minds. The image of Discord distorting their minds and personalities, turning them into the opposites of who they were made each girl wince in fright.

"Is that Discord?" Carl asked.

"Eeyup." Applejack said.

"Discord." Rarity cut him off. "Where are you?"

"_Oh Rarity, I'm just getting ready to have a little fun with you all. It may have been the other half of my spirit that messed with you in the maze, but that doesn't mean I don't want to share in the fun."_

"That doesn't sound good." Fluttershy whimpered.

"_Depends who you are Fluttershy," _Discord said with a chuckle, _"for me, it's fantastic. For you…"_

Suddenly, there were three distinct "popping" noises in the room, followed by an ear-piercing scream from Rarity.

"Ah! That jerk has done it again!" she bellowed in rage.

"Rarity what…" Louis began only to see Rarity was scowling. She pointed her hoof to her forehead to indicate what had caused her to freak out. Louis' jaw dropped when he saw that her horn was missing.

"Oh shit, not this." Alex muttered in fear as he realized that Discord had just done what he did in the show. No "special" abilities were allowed apparently, because Fluttershy's wings were gone and both Twilight and Rarity horns were missing.

"Discord you bastard!" shouted James in anger before building up his magic, "Give the girls their wings and horns back!"

"_Oh yeah? And what's a punk like you going to do about it?"_ Discord asked. _"A little punk who can't even fight his drunk stepfather to defend himself and his mother."_

Alex seemed somewhat taken aback by that statement, only to have Applejack turn to him, "Don't let Discord get to ya Alex, that's what he wants."

Alex managed to shake loose the uneasiness that he felt from what Discord told him before he turned his attention back to figuring out where the Draconeqqus was.

"I'll blast a hole in your head with my magic." James hissed as he held his hand up, showing the yellow aura.

"_Ah yes, the "underappreciated" James. Tell me, how does it feel knowing that no one on this Earth give you credit for anything? How does it feel to be criticized about your beautiful eulogy? How can you be nice with such a life?" _Discord said with a laugh, but it didn't seem to stir James at all, whose hand was still glowing. Just then, however, Discord continued to talk. _"Oh I almost forgot, for this game I'm going to have to require NO magic from ANYBODY."_

James suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest. He grunted in agony and collapsed to the ground, his aura gone and his hands over his heart, where the pain was coming from.

"James!" Carl shouted, as he was about to go to his friend when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest as fell and fell to his knees. Soon, the other four guys were on their knees, clutching their chests in agony before the pain disappeared. They all suddenly felt as though nothing had been wrong. Like the pain in their chest was just imaginary.

Twilight ran over to Carl with a worried look. "Carl; are you okay?"

"I…I think so." Carl spat out.

All around, the girls went to their partners to make sure they were okay. As they recovered, Carl looked down at his hand and concentrated on Twilight to bring out his magic aura like he always had, only to realize that nothing formed. Now matter how hard he tried, he couldn't create an aura.

"Carl, what's wrong?" Twilight asked

"I…I can't bring out my magic." Carl whispered. He kept trying, but it was no use.

"Hey what gives!" shouted Louis, "why won't my magic work?"

Discord's laugh was heard once again, echoing throughout the dark building. _"Like I said, NO magic. Human or pony, everyone must be on a level playing field. Well, except for me and my men." _Discord laughed a little bit as he admitted his own cheating, not caring what anyone or anypony thought, "_Now, like I was saying, we are going to play a little game that I think you'll enjoy...or at least I will."_

"What, you mean find you and defeat you without magic?" Carl said with a shrug, "fine, we've got our elements. We can still beat you without it."

"_Well, there is one more component to this challenge that I have yet to unveil."_

Before Carl could question the God of chaos, there was a sudden ripping sound in front of them. Suddenly, in the middle of the hall where the group was standing, there was a large dimensional tear that appeared to lead to an office area. Of course, since none of the boys had ever been in City Hall before, they had no idea where it could be.

Before anything could be done to stop it, all five girls were lifted in the air by a magic force, screaming as they were brought into the office area before being dropped onto the floor on the other side of the tear in reality.

"Twilight!" Carl shouted before he lunged at the dimensional rift, only to see it close up, leaving no trace of it ever being there. Carl fell facedown onto the floor before he looked up to see that the rift was no where to be seen.

Carl sat up with his mouth agape, as did the other boys. They didn't expect something like that to happen in their wildest dreams. Carl looked to his left, then to his right, then behind him, then in front, and his fears were confirmed.

The rift had unquestionably closed. They were now separated from the girls, who were the only ones with experience in defeating Discord.

Discord's laugh rang out again.

"What did you do to them!" Carl hissed as he stood back up.

"_Oh they're fine. I've just re-located them to another part of the building. All you have to do is find them. It shouldn't be too hard, after all they can only be on one of six floors." _

Alex looked up and pointed to the ceiling, as if he were addressing Discord face-to-face. "Discord you bastard if you lay one claw on AJ's mane I'll…"

"_Like I said you're little mare-friends are fine. I promise you that," _he said before laughing some more, _"but I cannot speak for my men. So now your challenge is this. You must get to me without magic, and you must find the girls. If I'm correct, you need ALL TWELVE elements to defeat me."_

All of the boys now looked pissed off, angry at being separated from the girls as part of a sick game, which shouldn't be surprising as Discord was behind it.

"_Oh and Ryan?" _Discord said, drawing the shorter teens attention, _"Rainbow Dash will keep her wings until she enters this building. So her little flight will go unhindered unless she decides to take a detour through here. But once she enters, she will be a wingless pegasus."_

Ryan was seething. His eyes were wide open and he was breathing heavily, as well as rapidly. His face was red and his body was shaking.

"_Good luck gentlemen. HAHAHAHA!"_

Just like that, Discord was gone, and the six boys were alone. They had no magic, they didn't have the girls, and they were supposed to look for them while fighting off magic-wielding unicorns using…no magic. To make matters worse, Discord and his men would have their magic to fight against them. It wasn't fair, but since when did fairness matter to the God of chaos?

"Great. Just peachy. Now what do we do?" Pete asked sadly as Carl turned to the others with a very serious expression on his face.

"What do you think, we get the girls."

"And how do you propose we do that?" Louis asked with a tone that reflected his frustration, "we have no magic!"

"That's true, but we do have Earth's replacement for magic." He then took out one of the shotguns that they had snagged off of the unconscious anarchists and pumped it, "We have guns."

"Um..." Alex held his hand up, "…we already got a lesson today from one of Discord's men. It's unwise to bring a gun to a magic fight."

"Not if we catch them off-guard." Carl said, "their magic will only deflect bullets if they see them coming, and they mentally prepare to deflect it. If we shoot them when they aren't suspecting it, we can take them out just as easily as we could humans."

"But not all of us know how to fire a gun." Pete said, "just because we got a brief discussion on it from Louis, Alex, and Ryan doesn't make it any easier for us."

"That's why Louis and Alex here will have most of the ammo and the rest of us will only have one gun." Carl looked at Louis and Alex, "You two will lead us and protect us. You're good shots right?"

Both boys shrugged and gave a "so-so" movement with their hands before Carl nodded, "That's good enough."

"Wait! I can fire a gun, what should I do?" Ryan asked.

Carl then walked over to Ryan and placed the shut-gun he had been holding into his chest.

Ryan grabbed it "Ryan, you have to go get Rainbow Dash alone. If we go as a group, they'll be drawn to us and you won't make it to her. She doesn't know what she's in for and you need to meet her upstairs like you promised. You need to protect her."

Carl backed off of his friend, leaving him with the gun in his hands. Ryan looked down at the weapon and up at the others before he nodded to Carl. He quickly began to reload his weapon while Carl grabbed the guns that were on the three unconscious officers. He tossed one to James, one to Pete, and kept the last one for himself.

He then walked back over to Ryan and put his hand onto his shoulder as Ryan pumped the shot-gun, ready to use it.

"Ryan, go on and get Rainbow Dash. We'll catch up with you later."

Ryan nodded and looked at everyone else, "Are you sure you guys don't need me?"

They shook their heads as Alex raised his hand, "I've fired guns before Ryan, I can take care of the group."

"So have I." Louis said.

"And the rest of us will manage with the guns we have...hopefully." James muttered with a chuckle as he held up the magnum he had from earlier.

Ryan nodded and looked down at his gun before slowly backing away. "I'll see you guys up top."

Ryan turned to run off when James called him.

"Ryan!"

Ryan stopped and turned to James, to see him with a very serious expression, "Do it for her and your parents. Don't hold back your anger anymore; unleash it on them."

Ryan looked at James with a small, sad nod before he sprinted off to the staircase, and just like that Ryan was off to the fourth floor to get to Rainbow Dash, leaving the other five to find their partners.

Carl turned to the others and nodded, "Let's go save the girls."

With those words, Louis and Alex went to the front of the group, Alex with a shotgun, Louis with two magnums, and the others with one magnum each. Alex and Louis began to lead them off to find the others. As they started to walk away, Pete pulled his gun out.

Still in stride, he looked down at the magnum he had in his hands, not used to the cold feeling of one in his own possession. He took a deep breath and followed the others as they went up another staircase.

**Yeah I couldn't resist having a gunfight in this story at some point. Plus, I felt it would be a good contrast of how Equestria deals with problems versus how Earth does. **

**I also hope my grammar and writing is getting better. As I said, I've looked back at earlier chapters and noticed that there was quite a lot of choppiness and mistakes in my writing. Hopefully it hasn't been too distracting for you.**

**Thank you for the views and reviews, and please let me know what you think.**

**And, as always…**

**Go Giants! Go Rainbow Dash!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22- Reunion and Their Perfect Dreams**

**Yes I know it took longer to get this chapter up, but I also hope that means the quality is continuing to improve. **

**Anyway, hope you enjoy and please R&R.**

**And I only own my OCs**

**Outside City Hall**

Rainbow Dash was zigzagging through the tall buildings with the group of Discord's pegasi hot in pursuit. She had no idea how she could lose them as she was running low on evasion ideas, so she kept herself flying at ridiculously high speeds with the hope that she would have time to think of a plan to get rid of her followers definitively.

"_I have to ditch these guys somehow."_ She thought as she looked up to see three pegasi flying directly towards her in an attempt to cut her off from the front. They began to fly directly towards her, quickly reducing the distance. She groaned, _"Ugh, okay, this is getting annoying."_

She continued to fly towards the three pegasi until they were about ten feet in front of her. She then made a very quick, sharp turn upward; causing the three pegasi in front of her to completely miss her. Two of them even collided with other pegasi before spinning out of control. Rainbow Dash looked back and laughed as she saw one of the pegasi smash through the window of an office building. She stopped flying for a moment and turned to mock the pegasi that were still coming after her.

"Hah! I was wrong about you guys, you don't have the intelligence of a rock! You're all dumber than a rock!"

The group of pegasi continued to fly at her at high speeds.

"_I think I know how to lose these guys once and for all,"_ she thought with a grin before she flew off further into the city in an attempt to bide time to perfect her plan.

**Inside Wilmont City Hall**

While Rainbow Dash continued with her exciting flight outside, Ryan was sprinting up the stairs towards the fourth floor. The stairwell was almost completely dark, except for a few, small lights that still managed to illuminate it, even if it wasn't enough to provide adequate visibility for Ryan as he ascended. Not to mention they would occasionally flicker and make visibility even worse for the boy. He kept his hands firmly on his gun as he climbed up, alert and ready to use it on a moment's notice.

He then stopped for a second when he heard something up above. On the fourth floor, just one floor above where Ryan was standing, the stairwell door was flung open. Two S.W.A.T. unicorns entered the stairwell, scanning the area to see if they could find anyone in the stairwell.

That's when one of them caught sight of Ryan and pointed down at him, "There's one!"

Ryan quickly ducked as a ball of energy hit the wall right beside him, sending drywall into the air and covering his hair with dust and debris. Ryan quickly pumped the shotgun, aimed up at where the two unicorns were, and fired twice. Fortunately for him, one of the two the unicorns was hit in the shoulder since he didn't expect Ryan to have a gun on him. Therefore, he didn't have time to concentrate and use his magic to deflect the round before it reached him. The other unicorn also didn't expect it, but managed not to get shot by jumping back against the wall to dodge the shell.

Using this momentary reprieve, Ryan sprinted through the door that led to the third floor, and he continued sprinting with the hope that they wouldn't know where he went so teleportation wouldn't work.

Ryan saw a flash of black in his peripheral vision, which he assumed was the unicorns' teleportation into the room, and almost instinctively dove into the nearest cubicle. He hit the ground and made his way further into the tiny office space and crawled under a desk. His gun was pointed towards the entrance to the small cubicle; ready for the unicorns if case they walked by.

He waited and listened until the voices of the unicorns went away. One of them was still grunting in pain and swearing up a storm from the gunshot wound that Ryan had given him earlier. He waited for another flash of black and the voices to disappear, indicating that they teleported away, before he cautiously made his way to the entrance to the cubicle to make sure that the unicorns were gone. When he saw nopony around, he quickly scrambled to his feet and sprinted towards another stairwell. Once he reached it, he continued his ascent to the fourth floor to meet up with Rainbow Dash like he promised.

Meanwhile, in one of the other office rooms in the third floor, not the same part that Ryan was just in; the door broke open. Inside of the room was Applejack, who had bucked through it, and the other four girls as they all exited the office. Applejack looked at the door and chuckled in approval of her bucking skills.

"Dang, ya think Discord wouldn't put to much faith in these here doors when ah can just buck 'em open."

"I don't think he was really trying to keep us in there darling," Rarity said, "After all, it is more in Discord's nature to have fun messing around with everypony's mind rather than simply defeating them. That is what he did with us in the maze after all."

"Rarity's right." Twilight added as all five girls continued out into the hall, walking slowly and eyes alert. They were proceeding with extreme caution since they didn't have Twilight's, or even Rarity's, magic to help defend them if they encountered any enemies, so they weren't sure how they'd fare. After all, when Discord took their horns and wings the last time, they were still only contending with the mischievous draconequus. Here, however, they had to deal with unicorns that were patrolling the entire building.

As Ryan had been earlier, the five girls initially found that Discord had dropped them off in one of the parts of the building that was lined with cubicles and offices, which really did make up most of Wilmont City Hall. Eventually, however, they left the office area of the floor and entered a brilliant hallway with a great staircase that led up to the fourth floor.

The floor was pure, white marble, and there was a magnificent chandelier that hung from the ceiling. It would have been an even more spectacular sight if the chandelier and the other lights had actually been turned on, but even in the dark it was a sight to behold. With each hoof-step there was a loud echo that sounded in the otherwise quiet, empty corridor, showing how magnificent it was, especially for the town hall of such a small city. Large, gaudy paintings of past mayors lined the hallway to add to the magnificent, enormous feel of it.

"Wow it's so pretty." Fluttershy whispered in awe as she looked at the white walls that were covered with wallpaper that looked like it came straight out of Italy.

"I cannot believe such a beautiful sight exists in such a dreary, dark, and dismal place." Rarity said as she gestured to the rest of city hall.

"Well ah think it ain't usually this dang dark and depressin'." Applejack answered as she continued to marvel with the others. "There just ain't no light to prettify it now"

"Even I have to admit it's pretty." Twilight muttered with a small smile, deciding that taking a quick moment to relax wasn't too much of a problem.

"Yeah, it kinda reminds me of the Princess' castle! Except less vibrant, a teeny-bit more depressing and there's a bunch of unicorns running down the stairs ready to kill us all!" Pinkie Pie said just as the group of unicorns she had been referring to came galloping down the stairs with stoic faces, showing how hell-bent they were on doing their job for their boss.

"Well Twi, do we fight or run?" Applejack asked as she braced herself in a fighting position, her body low to the ground, her eyes focused on the unicorns heading to them, most of them seeming to be the S.W.A.T. unicorns, like the ones that Ryan faced earlier. In fact, most of them still had their raid helmets on, only now each one had a horn sticking out of it.

"Well considering Rarity and I can't do magic and they clearly can, I say we should…RUNNNNN!" Twilight shouted and jumped into the air before she and her four friends bolted. As they ran off, a blast of magic barely missed them and hit the part of the floor that they were just standing on, covering their bodies in marble dust. They didn't let this stop them as they continued to run away from the unicorns, now scared as hell.

**With Guys**

Back down on the second floor of the building, the five guys that were still in the group were walking down a tiled hallway that was lined with doors. Alex and Louis were leading the way, both of them fully alert for anything that might pop up and attack them.

Alex held his shotgun and pointed it towards each door that they walked by. His eyes were vigilant, yet confident, as he had by far the most experience with a firearm in the group, which would have come in handy when his stepfather was choking him had his shotgun been on his person at the time. But a certain orange, underrated, country pony made up for it.

Louis took care of the front and back, walking almost side-ways to the group, where one gun was pointed towards the back end of the group, and the other was pointed to the front end. This way, both ends were protected. His own eyes were as vigilant as Alex's were. He hadn't fired a gun in years, as soccer often made it hard to find time, but he was good enough at it when he was younger that it became like riding a bicycle, he never truly forgot.

Pete, Carl and James, meanwhile, just looked vigilant as well, their own firearms ready to fire at anything that came to attack them. As Alex was pointing his gun at a nearby door, he leaned over to Louis.

"You see anything?" Alex whispered. Louis shook his head.

"No man, nobody's following us."

"Do you guys think we should split up?" Pete asked.

Alex relaxed a little bit and turned to Pete while shaking his head, "Not as long as only Louis and I have fired a gun. The only reason Ryan went on his own is because he has experience, and Rainbow Dash needs him upstairs. You guys have never fired a gun before and splitting up would be trouble."

"Well how hard can it be?" James asked looking at the gun in his hands.

"Harder than you think." Alex answered.

"Well you can do it, and you're from Texas." James scoffed.

Alex stopped and turned around, glaring at James, "What's that supposed to mean?"

James shrugged, "People in Texas are generally stupider."

"Bullshit," Alex hissed, "you're generalizing an entire state for your own political biases?"

"Maybe."

"Jesus Christ you're such a hippy dick-bag, how you're the Element of Kindness I'll never know."

"Guys! Shut up, this is no time for arguing!" Carl hissed just before a blast of black, magic energy was shot at the group, causing them all to drop to the floor in cover. Alex wasted no time in firing a round in the direction of the blast while Louis fired about four rounds from his own magnums. There were two unicorns in front of the group that the bullets were aimed at. And while most of the rounds missed, it was still effective. One of the police unicorns fell down clutching his bloody stomach in pain while the other unicorn managed to deflect the bullets with his magic. The unharmed unicorn then looked down at his mortally wounded comrade and put his hoof onto his back before they both teleported away to safety.

But that was far from being the end of the attack. A massive group of unicorns flooded down the stairwell and began to go after the boys, shouting and charging their horns for an assault of magic energy.

"I think it's time to split up." James muttered in an ironically normal-sounding tone.

"Yeah, I'd have to agree," Carl added, "meet on the fifth floor in ten minutes!"

Everyone nodded and quickly dispersed. Carl and Pete wound up going in the same direction, Alex and James went a different way, and Louis went one way all by himself, and he was not happy about it at all.

"_Why is it always the black guy who gets ditched by everyone!" _Louis thought angrily as he made his way into an office wing of the second floor by himself.

Louis heard hoof-steps coming up behind him as he continued to run away, firing his guns blindly as he neared the doorway that led to the stairwell.

He decided that shooting wasn't going to do much good and pushed through the door ran upstairs. He climbed up about two floors when he saw the door up above burst open, revealing a unicorn shouting down at him. Louis turned and, without thinking, jumped down one flight of stairs so he could avoid the blast of energy heading his way. As the blast hit the wall where he had been, he continued to fly down towards the concrete step below him, no control of direction or speed as the ground rapidly approached.

"_Well…shit." _

He hit the ground with a painful-sounding "thud" and "crack" and toppled over to the ground. He hit the wall and screaming in pain. He grabbed his right leg as pain shot through it before he turned around to see the unicorn stupidly running at him. Louis used the chance to point one of his guns, which he fortunately still had in his hand, at the pony's head and fired.

The bullet tore straight through the pony's skull and the pony was dead as a doornail before he hit the ground. The body of the creature came toppling down onto the injured Louis, who now had to contend with the agonizing pain in his leg while he tried to push the heavy corpse off of him.

He finally pushed the dead unicorn off of himself and let out a sigh as he continued to breath heavily, pain shooting through his leg before it began to go numb, which was never a good sign. He looked down to see that blood was seeping through his jeans. He carefully pulled up his blood-soaked pant's leg, wincing as it went over the injured part, and looked down at his leg to see that it wasn't just broken; it was a compound fracture.

In lament's terms, his bone was sticking out of the skin and blood was running down his leg and onto the floor.

Louis couldn't help but laugh at the card fate had dealt him. His prized right leg that had been such a deadly weapon on the soccer field was shattered. It was almost like fate was screaming_, "Yeah, you're destiny isn't to be a soccer player anymore buddy boy."_

"Oh God, of all the bones to break," he laughed as he shook his head, "of all the fucking bones in the body to break."

Louis groaned as he slowly crawled to the door and realized he couldn't push it open. He groaned and sat back against the wall, hoping someone would find him. He knew that Twilight and the others could probably help his leg heal, but he also wondered if, based on everything he'd been thinking about recently regarding Rarity and his future life, that his break might have been a sign. Then again, it could have just been terrible luck.

He didn't have to wait long, for James and Alex burst through the third-floor door that was right next to where he was sitting. They turned to run up the stairs, only to notice Louis on the ground, his leg bleeding, his head bloodied, and dark laughter coming from him. They immediately stopped and turned to their friend with worried expressions.

"Louis what the hell happened?" James asked, staring right at the broken leg with the bone sticking out.

Louis laughed and shook his head, "Fate…fate gave me my choice."

"What choice?" Alex asked before he turned to James, "Come on let's help him up."

They both lifted Louis before they turned to go back out the door they just came through to find an elevator from the third floor up to the fifth.

"Rarity…I have nothing here. My leg…my soccer…I'm going to live with her. Any doubt is gone. I don't care if my leg heals. Call me religious, but I take signs like this seriously." Louis spat. Alex and James exchanged confused looks before they continued towards the door.

"Why does it seem like this experience robbed all six of us any ties to this fucking planet that we had? Pete was exactly right when he brought that up earlier." Alex muttered as they pushed their way through the door that he and James had only moments before come through, "it's like fate's fucking begging us to move to Equestria to be with the girls. Like we have nothing left here, it's like we're characters at the start of a generic Human in Equestria fan-fiction that have noting to live for on Earth…or at least feel like they don't."

"Maybe that's it then." James muttered before they reached the elevators and pressed the "up" button. "Maybe we are destined to be with them. Sometimes generic endings do happen in real life."

"That's so damned cliché though." Alex groaned as the doors to the elevator opened. They all walked into it and pressed the "5" button. Just as the elevator's doors began to shut, a group of three unicorns appeared down the hall. They all stopped and turned to see the trio in the elevator. The entire group began to sprint after them while the doors to the elevator remained open.

"James, take Louis." Alex said as he pushed Louis into James, who struggled to keep him up as Louis bit his lip as more pain shot through him. Alex stepped forward in the elevator, took aim, and fired three times at the unicorns. One shell was deflected by the magic, but the other hit one of the ponies in the leg, causing him to tumble over and trip two others, leaving only two unicorns still running at the elevator.

Eventually, the elevator doors did shut and it began to go up to the fifth floor. Alex sighed and walked back over to help James with Louis.

"Why did we lose so much?" James asked. "Why are we losing so much."

"Because people in reality tend to lose a lot during war." Alex answered as a re-loaded his gun. "I mean, look at people who lived in Europe during World War II, or Japan. A lot of them lost everything with the bombs and whatnot. It doesn't mean fate is telling us anything."

"But it's like anything that gave us a purpose on Earth is gone." James said. "It's just strange. We had so little before this and now the little we did have is either taken from us, or proven to mean nothing. Face it we _are_ becoming those self-insert characters."

Alex gave a small chuckle and pumped his gun once he reloaded it. "Que sera, sera, James. If my destiny is to be with Applejack I have no qualms at all. Besides, we already had this conversation at Carl's house."

James thought for a moment and then nodded. "Yeah, good point. But my point is still valid."

**Carl and Pete**

Carl and Pete were both slowly made their way down a long, dark hallway. They had managed to ditch the perusing unicorns from earlier and were now simply trying to find a way up to the fifth floor, which was proving to be more difficult than either of them had initially expected.

"Pete stay here, I'm going to go up there to see if the coast is clear." Carl muttered as he slowly crept further down the corridor, his gun drawn, ready to be fired at a moment's notice.

Pete bit his lip anxiously as he watched his friend walk off. He could feel his grip on the firearm tightening from his anxiety and his desire to make sure the gun stayed firmly in his hands, even while his palms sweated and caused the weapon to slip around. He needed to keep a firm hold on it in case somepony came after him.

He was so focused on Carl and his gun, however, that he didn't see a nearby door open up, a familiar police officer made his way closer to Pete, eyes focused on the boy. He transformed back into a unicorn as he approached Pete before he charged up his horn.

"Nothing down here!" Carl shouted before he turned back to Pete. Suddenly, a blast of energy slammed into Pete and launched him into a nearby office. Pete fell to the ground, his eyes closed and his nose bleeding heavily. His gun lay by his side and he let out a groan, indicating that he was barely conscious.

Shaded Deceit crept into Carl's view and Carl's worry turned from his friend to himself. Shaded glared at Carl and smiled, "Ah boy, you probably shouldn't have let me become the one that got away back at the station."

Carl pointed his gun at the mocking unicorn and fired. Fortunately, aiming and firing the gun was much easier to him than he expected it to be, most likely thanks to all of the Call of Duty he played and the paintball matches that he did with Alex and James, in which Alex would always win.

The bullet, however, was easily deflected off of Shaded's magic shield and wound up in the walls around the unicorn. Shaded then used his magic to grab Carl and hurl him into the wall. Carl let out a grunt of pain as he fell to the ground in a heap, spitting blood and shaking his head to get rid of the dizziness from the impact.

He tried to get up as fast as he could to grab his gun, which had fallen a few feet in front of him. Shaded, however, used his magic aura to grab him again and hurl him into the wall opposite to the one that he was just slammed into. Again, Carl fell down, but this time he stayed down as his head hurt and his nose bled even more. He put his hand to his nose to stop the bleeding while Shaded just chuckled.

"You humans are quite resilient, I'll give you that much. In this reality I think resilience is a requirement for survival." Shaded walked over and, once again, lifted Carl up with his magic, once again, so he was levitating in front of the angry looking unicorn. "Unfortunately, we don't come from the same reality, and your resilience will wear out momentarily."

Just like that. Shaded's horn began to glow as he slowly approached Carl's forehead, which was bloody from hitting the wall. Carl just watched helplessly as Shaded came closer and closer to him. "Good night boy, say hello to your mare-friend's uncle for us."

The unicorn was so focused on Carl, however, that he didn't notice the figure standing behind him with a gun pointed directly at the back of his skull and an angry look on his face.

"Hey douche-bag!"

Shaded turned his head and his concentration fell for a split second as he saw Pete standing behind him with the barrel of his gun pointed at his face. His nose was bloody, the red liquid drying above his mouth. His left arm, which was not holding the gun, hung at his side and had a deep gash in it. However, he didn't seem phased, rather he just seemed pissed off at the unicorn that was threatening his friend.

"Friendship is magic motherfucker." He muttered before pulling the trigger of his gun.

Shaded was so surprised by Pete's presence that he didn't have time to concentrate and deflect the bullet before it tore into his skull. Shaded fell over to the floor, motionless and dead, blood pooling out around his head on the ground as his eyes stared down at the floor. They still showed the same shock that he had felt the moment he died, when his eyes fell on the face of the timid boy who claimed his life with the first bullet he had fired in his life.

Once Shaded's magic aura that had surrounded him disappeared, Carl fell onto his back with a hard "thud". He groaned and rubbed his back before he looked up at Pete, "I honestly didn't ever picture you doing something like that."

Pete walked over and outreached his hand to help Carl up, a small smile on his face, "I'm not the wallflower I was a few days ago."

"No Pinkie made sure of that, didn't she?" Carl chuckled and took Pete's hand as he hoisted him up. Carl walked over to the ground where his gun had fallen and picked it up.

"Come on," Carl said as he said, "we've got some girls to save."

After Carl and Pete's ordeal with Shaded Deceit, they went off to save the girls, who were still running as fast as they could away from the unicorns that were chasing them.

The five of them were now in a different hallway. Not as magnificent as the other one, but the floor was still marble and it had a grand feel to it, which the girls really didn't notice as their main concern were the unicorns chasing them.

"What do we do now?" Pinkie Pie asked as she turned to Twilight as they continued to run.

"Ya don't happen ta have yer party cannon with ya now, do ya Pinkie?" Applejack asked Pinkie Pie, to which she glared.

"Of course not, you don't think I would have used it already if I did?" Pinkie Pie rolled her eyes as she continued to run, "I might be random Applejack, but I'm not stupid."

"Girls, look out." Fluttershy said louder than she normally would have as she pointed to five unicorns that had teleported in front of them, cutting them off. All of the girls screamed and skidded to a stop as the other unicorns began to trot over to them with devious smiles on their faces. The girls looked left and right, and saw they were surrounded. There was no way out.

"We're trapped." Rarity said with fear as the unicorns slowly approached them, evil grins on their faces as they inched closer, their eyes full of anger. The girls took a few steps back, only to stop when they remembered the unicorns that were behind them. They looked at each other with panicked faces as they realized there was no way out without Twilight's magic.

"This is it girls." Twilight said as they all hugged each other.

"Ah never thought it would end like this." Applejack muttered.

"Yes, I always thought our downfall would be from a sugar overdose at one of Pinkie Pie's parties." Rarity said regretfully.

"Hey!" Pinkie Pie complained before turning her attention to the unicorns.

The group of unicorns that were in front of them walked closer, and closer, and closer, their horns glowing as she prepared to attack. Twilight gulped and closed her eyes as she felt her friends, as well as herself, shaking in fright. They hugged each other tightly, awaiting their imminent doom.

Just then, there was a clanking sound coming down the hall, like something was sliding across the floor towards the crowd that had gathered in the middle of the hallway. All of the unicorns that stood in front of the girls turned to the source and saw a large fire extinguisher sliding to a stop right in front of them. The unicorns behind them were still charging their magic, but also peeked through their eyelids to see what the noise was.

Twilight and the others opened their eyes to see the five unicorns stared down at the fire extinguisher with confused faces. Suddenly, Twilight then saw Carl and Pete pointing their guns at the extinguisher.

"Is that Petey?" Pinkie Pie asked as she pulled out a pair of binoculars from, again, nowhere (and she couldn't get her party cannon, go figure), and looked through them to see her colt-friends face as he held his gun out.

"It is! My Petey!" she grinned as she tossed the pair of binoculars behind her. The binoculars then clocked one of the unicorns in the head just as his horn was done charging. He let out an "ow" and turned his head away just as his horn let off a blast of energy. This misfire hit a unicorn that was right next to him, who then misfired and hit another one of his comrades. This resulted in a chain reaction of the unicorns behind the girls being flung into each other by their own misfired magic blasts that had been meant for the five mares, but was now hitting their friends.

Carl and Pete quickly fired their guns at the extinguisher, causing it to explode into mist, which surrounded the panicking unicorns that began to scream and blindly fire magic around in a panic. Carl and Pete lowered their guns and looked at where the girls had been, even though the smoke was preventing the two boys from getting a view of them.

"Twi! Follow my voice!" Carl shouted from behind the cloud of smoke that was in front of the girls. "And go around the smoke."

"Come on everypony." Twilight muttered as she led the girls around the white cloud from the extinguisher until they found Pete and Carl on the other side. The two boys gestured for the girls to keep running after them. They sprinted away from the chaos, which was only brought on by one pair of cartoon binoculars from a random pony and a single fire extinguisher.

Not the most competent group.

**City**

Rainbow Dash had finally found the opportunity to do what she had wanted to do for the past few minutes, which was get rid of the pegasi once and for all.

After evading a few other close-trailing pegasi, who wound up with crashing into each other or smashing through buildings that the elusive cyan mare managed to weave in and out of, she had finally found the opportune moment to send them packing. It was time for the big guns, and most bronies probably know what that means.

She began to rapidly fly up, trying to get as high in the air as she possibly could while the pegasi trailed close behind her, eyes not blinking at all as they focused on their target. Rainbow Dash's face was determined as she burst through clouds as she climbed way above the city. Eventually, she was high enough in the air to perform her special trick on these losers.

She grinned and looked below her, scanning the city until she spotted City Hall. Se knew that once she did what she had to do, she would have to find the fourth floor to meet Ryan, whom she assumed was worried sick about her. After all, he was so hesitant to even let her be a means of distraction; she couldn't imagine how nervous he was while she was actually being chased.

Once she spotted the window that she was planning on flying towards, the one on the fourth-floor above the "W", she looked down at the approaching pegasi and waved, "Hey slowpokes! I dare you to keep up with me on this one!"

With that, Rainbow Dash went straight down towards the ground, the pegasi right behind her. As she got closer to the ground she could feel her body fit within a cone of force as she came closer and closer to breaking the sound barrier. Her eyes were focused, even when they had to shut every now and then as air rushed against her face.

Inside of the building, Ryan was already on the fourth floor just above the "W", watching Rainbow Dash making her descent.

"What on Earth..." he began only to realize exactly what she was doing, "Oh God, she's doing a..."

Before he could say anything else, there was a sudden blast of rainbow color in the sky, making Ryan jump back and shield his eyes from the epic flash that was known as the sonic rainboom.

In the air, Rainbow Dash zoomed down towards the ground, hearing the pegasi scream as the shock wave from the blast sent them flying in all different directions. Building windows shattered, car alarms went off, and the city was now lit up in an array of different colors rather than the plain, eerie orange tint it had before from the inferno. Even the anarchists and soldiers who were still fighting each other in another section of the city looked up in amazement at the beautiful, rainbow-colored spectra that had filled the sky with a beauty that was never meant for this world.

Rainbow Dash laughed in triumph as she flew closer to the building's fourth floor window, right where Ryan was. She could see him cheering for her through the window, much like Fluttershy had after she performed it at the young fliers' competition.

She smiled and gave Ryan a small wave as the approached the building. She aimed to fly towards the window that Ryan was at and was about to slow down when, suddenly, her wings began to feel strange. She looked at them to see them become transparent and, eventually, disappear, leaving her airborne without any means of control to stop herself from slamming into the window at full speed.

Discord had lied to Ryan. She wasn't to become wingless once she entered the building; she was to become wingless once she was close-by to it.

Her eyes went wide in fright as she came closer and closer to the building, staring to fall down as well so that she was no longer going towards the correct window. Thankfully, she didn't fall too far as she went right through the window below Ryan. In other words, she went through the third-floor window that was underneath the "W" in "Wilmont City Hall". She put her hooves over her face to brace herself before she crashed into the building. She slid across the floor before coming to a stop in the middle of a hallway. Fortunately, she didn't hit anything that could have caused serious injury so she just lay on the ground, exhausted and shaken.

"Rainbow Dash!" Ryan shouted before he quickly made his way towards the staircase to the third floor. His gun ready, as he knew that he needed to get to her before any of Discord's minions found her. But as he ran, he could feel the blood within him boiling, like a suppressed rage was finally coming to the surface. Discord had lied to him and Rainbow Dash could have been killed. Discord had lied to him, just like Lawrence had lied to him when they were kids.

With each step, Ryan no longer felt the desire to use a gun on Discord's men, he wanted to unleash his rage with his fists.

Down on the third floor, Rainbow Dash groaned and slowly got to her hooves, shaking her head as glass fell out of her mane. She started to walk, a small limp as the glass did cut one of her forelegs that she used to protect her face. She looked around the dark hallway, knowing that she was a floor below Ryan. She gulped and began to breath a little easier now that the ordeal was over.

Or so she thought.

She was suddenly pushed against the wall, a hand at her throat to keep her in place. She opened her eyes to meet the taunting glare of the police officer that they had left strapped to the chair back at the station, still in his human form.

The officer that had been spared from James's wrath was now threatening the love of the very person who fought for his right to live. He held his hand-turned-hoof up at Rainbow Dash with a threatening grin, "You're colt-friend should have let that other boy kill me when he had the chance."

Rainbow Dash struggled to get free, only to realize how futile the attempts were. She watched as the officer's hoof approached her forehead. She strained her head as far back as it could go, which wasn't much since she was pressed against the wall.

Just before the hoof touched her head, someone who had just burst out of the stairwell ran over and tackled the officer. He was sent flying about ten feet before sliding to the ground in a heap with the person who had brought him down.

Rainbow Dash landed with a thud onto the floor. She rubbed her throat, which was sore from being pinned. She coughed a little bit to clear her throat and looked up to see Ryan pushing himself to his feet. She watched, stunned, as he ran over to the delirious officer, who was just starting to shake off the hit and body slammed him.

Once he had the officer back on the ground, Ryan got onto his chest and threw a brutal punch into the officer's head, and then he threw another, and another…blood began to spray up into his face. With each punch, his parent's memory and images of Rainbow Dash being tortured and her wings broken flashed into his mind, building a rage within his soul. Ryan was done showing mercy, done being the nice guy that he had always tried to be for Rainbow Dash's sake. Now all he saw now was red, the same color red as his parents' blood, the same color red as the rage he felt building up within him. The rage that he had tried to repress before, but now was unleashing it onto the helpless officer.

Rainbow Dash watched in horror as Ryan stood up and began to stomp his foot into the officer's face with extreme force three times until there was a splat on the floor and the officer was dead, and without a head and his brains all over the ground as Ryan stood over his corpse.

The angry teen fell to the ground in a sitting position, his breathing was quick and heavy, and his eyes wide from the adrenaline that still coursed through his veins. His body was shaking as the realization of what he just did formulated in his head. He just killed somepony, in this case almost exactly following the method of killing that was used in _Drive_, a death that actually scared him shitless in the theatre when he first saw it. But now, he went out and did exactly what the Driver had done. His rage for what these bastards did to him, his parents and Rainbow Dash, all pushed him over the edge to the point of killing the very person he had defended against James earlier in the night.

He sniffed and slowly looked at Rainbow Dash with eyes that showed some remorse and sadness before he muttered, "I'm sorry Dashie…I couldn't…I couldn't hold back anymore."

Rainbow Dash just stared for a minute, which made Ryan think she hated him for doing what he did. He suddenly was scared that she was scared of him and his violent actions. After all, these ponies came from a world where this kind of vengeance was most likely frowned upon and horrifying to even think about. Even if he thought an "eye for an eye" was right and proper justice, he was more worried that Rainbow Dash would hate him for it, and he could feel tears coming to his eyes as he saw her just staring at him with an expression that he couldn't read. He wasn't sure if she was mad or not, but he was worried.

"Please don't hate me." he muttered sadly to the cyan pegasus.

He worry ended when Rainbow Dash ran over to him and tackled him to the ground, giving him a combo of a tight embrace and a kiss planted on his lips. Ryan was initially shocked by her reaction, but eventually calmed down and began to hug and kiss her back. They remained on the ground, holding onto each other and kissing for about twenty to thirty seconds, both just glad to be back together after so much worry. They eventually broke their kiss and looked into each other's eyes.

Rainbow Dash smiled, "I understand Ryan, I don't hate you for this. I could never hate you for anything." Ryan smiled and sighed in relief, glad that she didn't hate him for what he did. They then both stood up and went off to join the others.

About a minute later, everyone and everypony met up on the fifth floor. James and Alex were still supporting the injured Louis, who Rarity immediately ran over to once she saw his leg.

"Oh my goodness, Louis what has happened to your leg?"

"Broken." He said with a laugh.

Rarity looked up at him with worry as he slowly got down to her level and hugged her tight. She hugged him back, "Don't worry, I'm sure Twilight has a spell that can help you with that."

"Well it's painful as hell so I'd hope so." Louis laughed before he grimaced.

Soon, everyone and everypony were reunited with their partners and after their quick hugging session. Pinkie Pie seemed worried about the blood that Pete had all over his face, and even told him how she'd throw him a party when they got back to Ponyville. Applejack and Alex hugged like normal, telling each other how they didn't want to be separated like that again. James and Fluttershy did the same, but James had to do a little more to console Fluttershy, as she was still a bit frightened after almost being killed.

Ryan and Rainbow Dash were back holding each other, foreheads pressed together as Ryan continued to praise her for performing her sonic rainboom as a means of losing her followers. She just blushed at the compliments that Ryan rained down onto her, as if she were his role model.

"You're acting like Scootaloo." She laughed.

"I just can't ever get over how awesome you are Dashie." Ryan said with a smile, which Rainbow Dash returned by nuzzling against his neck.

Meanwhile, Twilight was hugging Carl like he was her soldier husband who had just gotten back from battle, "Thanks for saving us Carl."

"Don't mention it," Carl said.

"I felt so helpless without my magic," Twilight sighed, "Like I was useless."

Carl broke the hug and shot Twilight a serious look, his eyes meeting hers, "Don't you ever call yourself useless, Twi. You're so much even without your magic. You're smart, kind and a great leader. You're magic may be a part of who you are, but it is in no way the only thing that defines you."

Twilight blushed and smiled at Carl's compliments before he kissed her forehead and stood up. Eventually, the entire group turned its attention to Carl and Twilight for the plan.

"Now what do we do?" James asked.

"Find Discord and end this." Carl answered, "and I do believe he is on this floor."

"How do you know?" Twilight asked; only to receive an answer that consisted of Carl pointing to a plaque on the wall that said "Mayor's Office" and had an arrow pointing down the hall.

"Come on, let's go."

**Obscure's Office**

Obscure sat on the ground with his head in his hooves while Crescent sat beside him, his eyes not leaving his future self for any reason.

"Your conscience is eating away at you isn't it?"

"Fuck off."

"No, I won't." Crescent said stubbornly before he put his hooves onto Obscure, "you won't let yourself forget who you used to be. And as long as your conscience exists, so do I. And I will continue to follow you until you truly understand everything that you've done."

Obscure looked up from his hooves at the colt, his eyes now showing a hint of sadness that they never showed before. "Why can't I forget?"

"You won't let yourself," Crescent said sadly, "Think back to the day that Discord spoke to you in the courtyard, when he was still in stone."

Obscure sighed and spoke, "How the hell could I forget that day? That was when the Princess chose Bright over me to come here to this world when the bucking prophecy told her to send her most faithful student to protect the element of magic, the only one we knew the identity of at the time. Carl Lewis." He growled his name with the upmost contempt.

"Looks like she chose right." Crescent muttered mockingly, which made Obscure shoot him an angry glare. "After all how faithful of a student can you be…"

"I only disobeyed her because of that!" Obscure shouted before turning away from the colt that only continued to lecture his older self.

"And therefore you were not faithful," Crescent growled, "if you were you would've respected the Princess' choice. Think back to those dreams you've been having recently, the _memories_ of your past. How Bright was always proud of you, how he always applauded you when you bested him. How he didn't let envy consume him…unlike you. You've proven that you're no better than those anarchists that Discord is using."

"Are you comparing me to those anarchists?" Obscure growled, "I am _NOTHING_ like them, I'm above them! I _RULE_ them with Discord!"

"Are you? Do you rule them?" Crescent asked, "How Discord is controlling them."

"Simple, he took advantage of their desperation in the bad economy and made them…." He trailed off, his eyes growing wide as the realization began to hit him.

"He made them hate those they envied. He used envy to turn them into monsters, which is exactly what he did to you. Think back to the day in the courtyard after the Princess told you how she chose Bright over you."

**Obscure's Memory**

Obscure began to remember that day, his seething, internal anger as he left the castle after hearing the news. He had pretended to be fine with the decision for Bright's benefit, and even wished him luck, but on the inside he kept questioning the decision. Why did she pick Bright over him when he had become the superior unicorn over the years? He wasn't sure what the great evil was that she was talking about, but he knew that he'd be able to handle it better than Bright would; yet he was chosen.

As he questioned himself and got mad at both Princess Celestia and Bright, he didn't realize that one of the two spirits of a certain Draconeqqus was watching from within his stone tomb.

Obscure continued by Discord's stone body when he suddenly heard a voice say, _"She betrayed you."_

He froze in place and turned around, looking around the courtyard frantically for the source, but he didn't find anypony.

"Um…hello?" he asked. When nopony answered o appeared, he turned around to walk away when the voice was heard once again.

"_Crescent, she went against you. Both the princess and your best friend."_

"N-no they didn't." Crescent stuttered, even though he did feel as though he was betrayed. He began to feel nervous at the sudden voice he was hearing. Was he going crazy, or was somepony actually talking to him?

"_Why put yourself in such a state of denial? All it does it cause you pain, let it out. Tell me the truth, so you can accept it."_

"Who are you!"

"_The one who thinks you are a victim of politics." _

That's when Crescent noticed the voice was most intense around the statue, making his eyes go wide as he realized whom he was talking to.

"Y-you? D-discord?"

"_He-he, quite observant of you." _Discord chuckled, even though he was still nothing more than a statue in the eyes of Crescent.

"B-but you're stuck in stone! You're a statue! How are you talking?"

"_Doesn't mean I still don't think. I'm trapped in here, not dead. And quite frankly, I'm getting quite bored." _Discord laughed, _"but you act so shocked. After all didn't the princess tell you what she chose Bright for?"_

Crescent nodded, "Yeah to fend off an incoming evil."

"_In another world. Awww, but she neglected to mention was how she plans to stop me? I'm quite disappointed in her." _Discord said with a laugh, _"Yes Crescent, I am the great evil she chose Bright to help stop. That she chose Bright to stop over you because she doesn't trust you."_

Crescent shook his head, "Then I'll tell her you're talking to me, I'll tell here what you're telling me right now!"

"_Now why would you do that to somepony who's trying to sympathize with you by ratting him out to the one that degraded you?_

Crescent just stared blankly at Discord, not noticing as a yellow mist began to surround him. Slowly, he began to see images of Princess Celestia and Bright at graduation day, her handing him the medal for being top of the class.

"But…but I got that medal." Crescent muttered, "I was top of the class."

"_Well it seems like Bright's being treated like top pony now, so maybe the past should have been what you're seeing. After all, this is how Princess Celestia sees it."_

Discord's eyes began to glow, as did Crescent's. Soon, his mind began to be filled with images of Princess Celestia rewarding Bright for accomplishments that Crescent did. He could feel his rage growing within as he saw his best friend getting credit for everything that _he_ did, even though it wasn't true. He saw Bright getting special attention from the Princess; he could see the Princess congratulating Bright when Crescent did something. Slowly, Crescent was making his transition over to Obscure Darkness. His cutie mark glowed and suddenly there was a skull that was now on Crescent's flank along with the moon.

The yellow glow in his eyes went away, revealing that they had a new, cold look, as if all of the kindness was sucked out of him, only to be replaced by coldness. He looked up at the statue as a yellow mist began to rise, showing an almost draconequus shape. The figure looked down at Crescent and smiled.

"_How do you feel Obscure?"_

Crescent, now Obscure Darkness, smiled and gave a nod. "Brilliant, sir. Simply brilliant."

"_I have split my soul in two and I must now rebuild my strength after being trapped for so long. Not to mention I feel absolutely drained of energy."_

"Where shall we go?" Obscure asked with an excited grin.

Discord chuckled, "There is a place out there, a reality…a world that is in constant chaos. Where universal harmony is impossible to achieve, and evil is always present. It is a place completely different from Equestria. There, I can become stronger and take over both this, and that, reality. Splitting my soul in two takes out a lot of my strength. It'll take years before I'm strong enough to regain all of my power, but it will happen. But it is easiest to do in that world, a world where I can thrive and gain power. "

"How will you do that?"

"We, Obscure, we will do it by ruling."

Obscure grinned as Discord laughed. Slowly, they both were enveloped in a yellow light and disappeared. Obscure began to laugh as well as he disappeared.

What he didn't notice was that Bright had watched them disappear from across the courtyard. He didn't see anything other than the two of them laughing before they vanished into thin air.

"Crescent!" he shouted, running over to Discord's statue, only to realize that the draconequus image and his best friend were gone. His eyes were wide in panic as he ran back to the castle to alert the Princess.

**Wilmont City Hall- Present **

Obscure's eyes shot open and he looked over at Crescent, his body shaking as he remembered the events of that day. For the first time, he saw Bright's expression after he vanished, his horror and fear. The fear of a friend when somepony he truly cares about has something bad happen to him. Obscure wasn't sure how he was suddenly able to see Bright's after he vanished when he didn't in reality, but it didn't matter. For the first time since he had left that reality for Earth, he felt terrible for everything that he had done.

It wasn't like he forgot his conversation with Discord; he always did remember that day in the courtyard. However, he never really let himself accept the fact that Discord had manipulated his thinking to such an extent that he had become a completely different pony. His envy was so great before Discord had gotten to him, that he unhesitatingly accepted what he had been shown to be true.

He turned to Crescent, who just looked at him sadly, "Now are you still in denial?"

"H-how…how could I not realize that?" he asked. "I mean…"

"Discord had a power over you," Crescent answered, "and it was too painful of a truth to realize after you've done so much evil. But in the end, if one is truly good, one's conscience always wins out."

"But how was I able to see Bright's reaction when I didn't see it in reality?"

"Magic has allowed you to see the complete truth, Obscure." Crescent smiled, "Because even with all the changes that you've gone through, one thing has remained consistent. You've great at magic, and you've always had a little good in you deep down that's wanted to know the truth, no matter how much you repressed it. Eventually, you had to discover it. Now you have."

Obscure just stared for a moment as Crescent gave him a faint smile. Obscure then turned his head away from the colt and let out a sad sigh, now beginning to wonder what he should do, and if he really could redeem himself after everything that he'd done, and if he'd even deserve it.

As Obscure continued to mull over his past and future fates, the twelve elements all began to make their way around the fifth floor, trying to find Discord's office. Carl and Twilight were in the lead while everyone and everypony else were following close behind them, looking around to make sure nopony tried to pull a Houdini on them.

"So how do we beat Discord? We just show concentrate on our elements?" Carl asked Twilight.

"Let me handle it, I can activate all twelve of the elements." She answered with a smile. They made their way down the hall towards a large door with a gold plate that read "MAYOR CHRISTOPHER DROCSID". The door looked like it had been broken into, due to the failed S.W.A.T. raid that happened earlier in the night.

Carl looked back at the others and whispered, "Get ready for a fight. Don't expect this part of Discord's soul to go down as easily as his half in Equestria did."

They all nodded and got their guns ready as Carl sighed and pushed the door to the office open to see Discord standing in front of the window, peering out over the city. As the group slowly walked into the room, they had thought Discord didn't notice their presence. That was, however, until they heard him start to chuckle menacingly. He slowly turned around to face the group.

"Ah it is so good to see you succeed at my little challenge." Discord muttered as he put his paw to his chin, "but I still feel you did so a little too easily."

"Enough with this challenge stuff!" Rainbow Dash growled, "back in Equestria you're other half reversed our personalities so we were all jerks, and then you separated us and took our wings and horns away…we're done playing around!" she pawed at the ground and snorted like an angry bull.

"Give it up Discord, we have the elements, and in a few seconds you'll be back in the stone prison where you belong." Alex said as he stepped forward, Applejack right beside him.

"Oh no, no, no. You see; that's where you're wrong. I nowhere near done; in fact, there is one more trick I have up my sleeve. And if you manage to overcome it, I'll truly be impressed."

"I don't think so." Carl answered, "Twilight!"

Twilight grinned and began to close her eyes to start the activation of the elements, only to have Discord shake his head, "Not so fast." And with that, he snapped his fingers.

Suddenly, a yellow mist began to climb up from the ground underneath each boy. Twilight opened her eyes when she heard Rarity scream. She looked to see Carl was completely surrounded by the yellow aura, as were Pete, James, Louis, Ryan and Alex. They boys were lifted into their air; their eyes wide open in shock. Once they were in the air, Discord smiled and snapped his fingers. Suddenly all six boys were released and fell to the floor with their eyes shut.

"Carl!" Twilight shouted before running over to his side. Soon, everypony else ran to their partner's sides to see what was wrong with them. When they got to their side, they noticed that they were all unconscious.

"What did you do to them you brute?" Rarity asked in anger as she looked up at Discord, her blue eyes like daggers at the monster in front of her.

Discord pointed at himself as if he was stunned that she was blaming him for anything, "Who? Me? Rarity, I didn't do anything bad to them. All I did was lull them into their perfect worlds."

"What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked nervously as she looked back down at James' sleeping form.

"They are in a deep sleep that can only be broken by a spell, and since Twilight still lacks her horn, you have no chance. But even if she did, your little friends are dreaming that the one wish that they had before they met you has come true. Based on how horrible their lives are overall; I wouldn't be surprised if you couldn't get them to wake up. They simply won't accept that the dream is fiction." Discord chuckled at the girls, who looked both angry and horrified, "Not to mention many of them may not even recognize you based on what point of their lives they are dreaming about. Believe it or not you girls have only been known on this planet for two years. Good luck."

Discord laughed before he teleported away, leaving the girls to deal with the arduous task of waking up the boys.

"Great, now what are we supposed to do?" Rainbow Dash spat.

"I don't know," Pinkie Pie said before grabbing Pete by the shoulders and shaking him violently, "PETEY! WAKE UP!" she shouted, only to see that it had no effect, he was in a deep sleep. She suddenly became sad and her mane fell flat against her head.

"Okay Ryan! Wake up!" Rainbow Dash shouted directly in Ryan's sleeping face. Her cheeks were bright red from how loud she pleaded. "Come on dude this isn't cool."

"This isn't funny at all Louis, please, for the love of Celestia wake up!" Rarity said as she began to tear up, her face showing how much she was holding back her tears.

"Alex please wake up, ya hear me?" Applejack said as she nudged his sleeping body. She then lay down and pressed her head against Alex's face, a tear rolling down her cheek, "Please wake up Alex."

"Um…I don't think we're going to wake them just by shouting at them." Fluttershy said in her meek voice that also had a hint of her sadness over toe situation as she looked down at James. "I wish we could though…poor James."

"Fluttershy's right," Twilight sighed, "Discord's put them into a deep sleep and we can't awake them without going into their heads and waking them up there."

"How does that work?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"I…well…" Twilight began before she looked down at Carl in defeat, her eyes full of sadness, "I don't know."

"I do." Came a male voice from behind them. They all turned to see Obscure Darkness walk over to them with a somber face.

"You!" Twilight growled, recognizing his unicorn form from the day at the mall, "Why should we trust you!"

"Because I want to redeem myself as much as I can for all of the bad I've done." Obscure sighed, "Especially what I did to your uncle. Twilight I don't expect to get any forgiveness, and I don't deserve it, but I still want to do what's right while I still have the chance."

Obscure shut his eyes and his horn began to glow. Twilight began to feel strange as, suddenly, her horn was back on her head. Not only that, but Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had their wings back, and Rarity had her horn as well. Twilight reached up and touched the tip of her horn in shock before looking back at Obscure.

"But…I thought…"

"There's no time Twilight," Obscure said sternly, "you must use your magic for you and your friends to enter your partner's dreams. Just like I assume Princess Celestia taught you so you could keep in contact with her on a face to face basis."

Twilight's jaw dropped, "How…how did you know?"

"Because I was her student as well." Obscure said with a small smile before he closed his eyes and let out a remorseful sigh, "before I turned against her." He opened his eyes and looked back at Twilight, "Just use the spell she taught you to go into people's dreams, I know you've learned it."

Twilight nodded, "Yes I…I did."

Obscure nodded and turned to walk off when Rainbow Dash couldn't hold her tongue in anymore.

"Hang on a sec, why should we trust anything you say? Only a little while ago you were on Discord's side, and now we're supposed to buy what you're telling us? Tell us why we should take what you say with more than a grain of salt?"

Obscure stopped and replied without turning around. "Because right now if you have any chance of defeating Discord and saving this planet, as well as possibly Equestria, you must wake them up. Even though I've done some terrible things, I am truthful about this, and I don't wish to see this continue anymore."

With that, Obscure walked away, but then Rarity called, "Wait, who are you?"

Obscure stopped and slowly turned around, "Crescent. Crescent Light."

"Wait!" Twilight said, holding out her hoof, "you were friends with my uncle, weren't you?"

He nodded, "Yes Twilight I was. He was a brilliant unicorn." He smiled, "and I can see the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

With that, Crescent closed his eyes and was enveloped in a black flash. He was gone, off to confront Discord. Twilight and the others looked at each other before looking back at the boys.

"Well Twi, do we go for it?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight nodded, "Yes, everypony get next to their partners."

Everypony listened and got next to the boy who had the same element as them and lay down. Twilight looked down at Carl's sleeping form, feeling desperation to wake him up.

"What do we do when we are in their minds, if you don't mind me asking?" Fluttershy asked meekly.

"We tell them they're dreaming." Twilight answered, "and be persistent. After all, if what Discord said was true, they're in their perfect world. Convincing them to leave it and come back to a reality they hate won't be easy."

"Well let's do it!" Pinkie Pie said with great enthusiasm, "I want Pete to wake up so we can beat Discord and I can throw my Beating Discord Party!"

Twilight nodded and closed her eyes. Her horn began to glow and soon, a violet aura surrounded everypony and their partners. Soon, each of the girls began to feel drowsy and eventually, they all fell asleep, entering the minds of their partners.

**Yes, time for the dream worlds of each boy. Hopefully this chapter was enjoyable. However, it will be nice to go back to writing more character drama in the next chapter, as I have been writing more action-based chapters recently. **

**If anyone watched Digimon Season 2, Discord's spell was based on the "dream world" idea in one of the last episodes of the season, where the digi-destined imagined that they lived in their perfect world. (at least I think, based on what I remember watching as it's been a while).**

**And I hope this makes up for Ryan's lack of vengeance against Lawrence. So much for being Mr. Innocent I guess ha-ha. Since he is basically my self-insert character (My name isn't Ryan though) I felt like I'd have him do to somepony who threatened Rainbow Dash what I'd do to them, which was beat the life out of them. **

**I hope this story is going in a reasonable direction, and I don't have too many plot-holes.**

**So thanks for reading and, as always...**

**Go Giants! Go Rainbow Dash!**


	23. Chapter 23

****Chapter 23- Dreams and Victory****

****Well now we approach the conclusion of the story. Just a heads up I prefer happy endings so don't expect anything depressing. ****

****This was quite a confusing chapter to write, and it has made me truly appreciate what Christopher Nolan was able to do with "Inception" and all of the rules for entering dreams.****

****Also, I got to see Prometheus (enjoyable movie considering there were a lot of unanswered questions) and got my midnight screening tickets to "The Dark Knight Rises" (July 19th can't come soon enough).****

****I also would like to thank everyone for reading an reviewing so far. And a special thank you for kroeger562399******Hallway, who gave me the idea for the helicopter at the end of the Chapter (you'll see what I'm referring to).**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy this Digimon Season 2-like chapter :)**

**And I only own my OCs**

"Where are we?" Rainbow Dash asked as all six girls found themselves in a plain, white hallway that was lined with six doors, three on each side, and two white walls at either end of the hallway. The corridor wasn't too long at all, only about fifty feet long from end to end. Fluorescent lights shone from above them on the ceiling. Not only that, but each door in the hallway had a single cutie mark on it; and not just any cutie mark, but a cutie mark that was specific to one of the six girls. The three doors on the left had Twilight's sparkle, Rainbow Dash's cloud and rainbow-colored lightning bolt, and Pinkie Pie's three balloons. The right side doors had Fluttershy's three, pink butterflies, Rarity's three blue diamonds, and Applejack's three apples.

"What are these doors? Fluttershy asked as she looked at the door with the three pink butterflies on it. She gulped nervously as she saw it, "and why do they have our cutie marks on them?"

"They lead to each of our partner's dreams." Twilight answered as she walked to the door that had her cutie mark on it, "if Discord really did use the same spell Princess Celestia told me about, the door with our cutie mark on it is the door to our partner. Not only that, but was soon as they see us, they will start to have their doubts about the validity of the dream."

"So they'll recognize us?" Applejack asked as she tapped at the door with her cutie mark on it, as if to see if it was tangible.

"Sort of. But if they're dreaming of a time when they were younger, their subconscious will recognize us and it'll trigger their memory."

"Do we just go in and tell them that they're dreaming?" Rarity asked.

Twilight nodded, "Yes, but don't expect all of them to accept it right away. Once they start questioning their fantasy, the dream will start to slowly disappear on its own. But we must help each of our partners understand that they're dreaming. Some will be more willing to accept reality, but…"

"Others will want to stay in their dream." Rainbow Dash interrupted with a slightly nervous tone. Twilight looked back at the other five girls, who were all standing in front of their respective doors, and nodded somberly, hoping that their partners wouldn't completely disregard them just because they were so into their own fantasy that they refused to accept the truth.

Twilight continued, "And also, they will be the only ones in their dreams that see us. We'll be invisible to anypony and anybody else."

"And more likely than not, while their one true wish will have come true, many other things will be in their favor. After all, Discord wants them to be in a complete paradise, so expect things other than their one true wish to be there. The more things that go their way, the harder it will be to get them to leave it. Also, before any of us wake up, all twelve of us must understand that we're in a dream. So it's all of us, or none of us. That's just how my spell works, got it?"

All five girls nodded.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's wake them up so we can beat Discord and have a BIG victory party at Sugarcube Corner!" Pinkie Pie shouted excitedly.

The other five rolled their eyes at Pinkie Pie's excitement before they each sighed. Twilight used her magic to open all six doors, which all six of the girls entered before they shut.

They were on their own.

**Louis **

"Congratulations on your newest masterpiece Mr. Clarkson! The Met will surely appreciate your work when you send it there for the exhibit next week."

Louis smiled at the art critic that stood in front of him with his little, pretentious tuxedo and smug grin that he detested oh so much. To him it seemed like most art critics were simply failed art students who were so convinced that their failure was not their fault that they took out their anger on other artists. This resulted them in nitpicking the hell out of artists' work until they found a reason to give it a bad review. They then wrote seething articles where every last detail was stomped and spat on until the artist's self-esteem was shot, and that artist would then become a critic who does the same thing, with the same hatred of success.

And the cycle would continue on and on.

This critic was no different from the other snooty, obnoxious men that Louis hated to meet up with at his exhibitions. But, right now, this man was hailing Louis' artwork as a masterpiece, so he could live with it. After all, the more praise his work got, the more paintings he sold, and the more fame he brought to himself and Wilmont. Not to mention the better reviews he got now, the more publicity he'd get at his exhibition when it was at the Metropolitan Museum of Art the next week. The very fact that such a prestigious gallery had deemed such a young artist's work worthy of being presented was remarkable in itself.

"Thank you, sir." Louis said with a smile as he watched the critic nod and walk away with his wife who was clearly half his age. Louis wasn't really sure when the art industry become the equivalent of playboy, where young women married older "classy", well-known critics only for the money and fame they had. He could clearly see that was the case with that particular critic.

In this dream, Louis was in his mid to late-twenties, though he did not look much older than he did in the present reality. He was wearing a black tuxedo and he was quite clean-shaven, wearing very expensive cologne as he tried to keep up a respectable image in the art community.

He turned and made his way over to a wall that was adorned with beautiful paintings of nature, architecture, galas, and even some paintings of famous soccer players who had hired Louis to paint their faces. He even painted the image of a bustling Rio de Janeiro for the 2014 World Cup, people dancing in the streets in celebration after Brazil beat England in the quarterfinals to reach a semi-final match against Italy, which they lost on penalties.

It was truly a remarkable scene that seemed to just exemplify the cultural expression of an entire nation. At least that's what Louis told reporters who asked him questions about the painting. The truth was that he just painted it for his still-present love of soccer, nothing more. The answer he gave reporters was just superficial nonsense that he knew the reporters would eat up and help him create an image of being "deep" and "culturally suave", which was something every artist needed in the art community.

The media was so easy to trick like that.

While Louis continued to admire his works, occasionally sipping from a glass of wine he held in his left hand, he suddenly heard a familiar girl's voice come from behind him.

"Wow Louis, your artwork is quite impressive, if I do say so myself."

Louis froze in place as he immediately recognized who had just spoken to him. He slowly turned around to see Rarity standing behind him with a smile on her face and her blue eyes meeting Louis' own. She trotted over to his side and pointed to a painting that he had done of a woman in a beautiful, white dress that seemed to engulf her in its flowing fabric. The woman stood in the middle of a large, ballroom with red walls, wooden floors, and large, overwhelming columns. Her face showed a very serious smile, as if she found a compromise between ecstatic and serious.

"I especially love the attention to detail you put into this gown." She said, gesturing at the white dress. "I believe that I could make a good deal of money off of selling such a dress for the Grand Galloping Gala, if you don't mind helping me design it, of course."

She nodded at her proposal as if she was satisfied with what she said, but Louis was thinking about something more important than his painting.

"Rarity what…what are you doing here?" he asked, as suddenly he began to remember everything that happened at the City Hall. He still found himself trying to find a way to rationalize everything that was happening without admitting to himself that he was in a dream rather than in reality.

"Well I'm glad to see that you remember me, I was absolutely petrified at the possibility that you'd forget." She said with a smile before it fell, "I have come here to remind you to come back to reality, as we need you to defeat Discord."

"But…this is real…" He looked down at Rarity, who just shook her head.

Louis suddenly began to remember that he was in Wilmont City Hall, as well as his broken leg. He shook his head in a last attempt of denial. "Please tell me you're kidding."

Rarity shook her head, "Unfortunately no I am not. The only real ones here are you and I."

Just the words left Rarity's mouth, and Louis' denial failed, the dream began to slowly fade away. Louis returned to his normal age as he watched his artwork, all of the nicely dressed critics, the tables of expensive food that no one dared eat too much of for fear of seeming "uncouth" in the art community; all gone. As soon as the realization that he was dreaming hit him, the dream was gone, and he was left in a void of white.

Louis nodded with a small amount of disappointment before he scanned the once grand room that his work had filled, now completely gone, disappeared and replaced by white nothingness.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but why was your dream to become an artist?" Rarity asked.

Louis closed his eyes and sighed, "That was only part of it. I've always been into art and painting more than soccer. I would never tell anyone about this before and just decided to focus on soccer and paint as a hobby when I found time. Unfortunately, soccer began to overtake every part of my life. The agility camps, the games, the practices, I had no time to just sit down and do what I loved…I couldn't even find time to paint a stick figure if I wanted too. My wish was to become famous and bring pride to Wilmont and my parents' memory; the art was just my preferred means of doing so over soccer. I never told anyone that…well…now you know."

"Then why aren't you doing that instead of soccer? After all didn't you tell me that you stuck with soccer because it was what everyone expected?" Rarity asked.

"I was doing soccer in real life because soccer was a more practical path. I mean; I'm good at painting…when I do it. It's so hard to find time," Louis said with a sad chuckle before he continued his explanation, "but I was always so good at soccer, and in reality it was easier to gain notoriety for that over painting. Especially considering I was one of the top soccer players in the state."

Louis let out a sigh. He was rather accepting of the harsh reality that he was in a dream rather than reality. After all, his dream was basically the direction his life was going anyway, but with painting instead, something that he truly wanted. But once he saw Rarity again, he realized that she was much more important to him than painting.

He watched as his tuxedo faded away, revealing the clothes he had been in when he was in City Hall, which was the clothing that Rarity had given him back at the hotel The clothes she had made him based on a picture in the newspaper.

He chuckled, "I still can't believe you made these clothes using only a picture as a reference, I'm still amazed by that."

Rarity blushed and gave a small, humbled laugh, "Oh it was nothing, really. I've worked on clothes for so long that making anything really comes as second nature, even if the information on the wearer is incredibly vague, as that photograph was."

Louis and Rarity both shared a small laugh before they hugged each other. They then pulled back and looked each other in the eyes and kissed.

Once they broke it off, Rarity leaned against him, "You know, you could always come live with me in Ponyville and help design clothes at the Carousel Boutique. Based on your love of painting, it might be right down your alley. That dress you painted in your dream was fantastic. I hope you can paint that well in real life so you can possibly come up with different styles."

"I'll try."

They both leaned in and kissed each other one more time.

Little did the know, that in the Mayor's office, both Louis and Rarity's Elements of Generosity began to glow as they remained asleep, waiting for the others to wake up before they too could.

**Pete**

A younger Pete was grinning from ear to ear as he started to unwrap a gift from his soccer team. He had just had surgery to remove his colon two days ago, and he was enjoying the company of his visitors. His parents were standing beside his bed, smiles on their faces; his father's hand on his shoulder. Three of Pete's teammates and the head coach were also in the room. They all stopped by to check up on Pete just because they cared about him, and wanted to see if there was anything they could do for their friend. He felt ecstatic to have people there with him, and couldn't imagine being alone.

"Thanks guys for coming up to see me, it means a lot." Pete said with a chuckle as he continued to tear the wrapping away from the spherical gift in his lap. He knew it was a soccer ball, but decided it was best to not tell them and act surprised once he finished unwrapping it. After all, it was more courteous to pretend to be surprised when a group of people expected it than to say something like "you failed to surprise me".

"No problem man, we're always here for one of our friends." Said a taller, brown-haired boy who was the coach's son. Pete finished taking the wrapping off of the ball and, as he predicted, he was given a soccer ball. But not just any soccer ball, it was a soccer ball that had been signed by the entire team, including the coach. All Pete could do was grin and look up at his parents, who smiled back at him warmly, his father continuing to grip Pete's shoulder and giving it a small pat.

Pete then turned back to his three teammates and coach, all of whom came to visit him on their own, "Thanks guys I…" Pete sniffled a little bit. He tried to hold back the flood of emotions that were trying to break through his otherwise stoic, smiling face, but it was difficult, so he settled for smiling at his visitors. He wiped away a stray tear that began to make its way out from the corner of his eye, "…I really appreciate this."

Pete looked back down at the soccer ball with a smile on his face. He was about to look back up when he felt somebody tap him on the left shoulder. He looked over to see who had tapped him. Once he saw who had done it, his heart froze. Standing right beside him was Pinkie Pie. Now, he was dreaming that he was younger than seventeen, so he hadn't gotten into the show yet, as "Friendship is Magic" didn't exist while he was sick. But that didn't mean the sight of a cartoon pony was any less shocking to him.

"Pete, that's a really cool ball you've got there." Pinkie Pie said with a smile. "Do you mind if I sign it? I brought my pen, let me just get it out!"

Pete didn't know what to say, so he slowly handed the ball to Pinkie Pie, her face and eyes seemed strangely familiar to the young boy.

While Pete was still unsure about this mysterious, pink animated pony's identity, his subconscious seemed to have an idea who she was, for it had not completely forgotten about her. As soon as he saw her wacky antics and goofy grin, he slowly began to remember everything. After all, how can anyone forget Pinkie Pie? Even if he was younger than he was when he first started to watch the show, it was impossible to completely forget about the crazy pony that had broken the laws of physics in Equestria, as well as in reality, proving that physics never applied to her, no matter where she was.

While his mind continued to try to remember whom the pink pony was, Pinkie Pie shook her mane and a black sharpie-like pen fell out of it and landed in-between her hooves. She used her mouth to pull the cap off and scribble her name onto the soccer ball with surprisingly good legibility, especially since she was writing with her mouth.

Once Pete finally remembered everything, he began to shake his head in denial, his eyes wide, "No…"

Pinkie Pie quickly re-capped the pen and tossed it into the air so that it landed back in her mane, disappearing in the pink mass of pink. She then turned back to Pete, grinning at him as if nothing was wrong. "No what Petey?"

Pete suddenly turned around to see that, while the room was still there, everyone else that had been in it besides him and Pinkie had disappeared. His "friends", his coach, and his parents were all gone, leaving him as alone as he had been when he was sick.

Not only that, but Pete reverted back to his seventeen-year old self. He didn't look much different from his twelve-year old self, though, because his illness made him appear two to three years younger than he really was. So he really looked closer to fourteen or fifteen than seventeen.

Even though the people disappeared from the dream, the hospital room remained because while he knew it was a dream, his heart kept trying to convince his mind otherwise; that he wasn't in a dream; that his friends really did care about him, that his parents were still by his side and hadn't disowned him. Unfortunately, that didn't help his visitors or parents stay in his dream, and he was now as alone as he was when he was sick in reality.

Well, even more alone now that his parents were gone. He suddenly felt himself become teary eyed and his sadness flooded back. He had never felt as vulnerable as he did at that moment. Not even the time he went in for surgery or when his parents kicked him out of the hotel for admitting his love for Pinkie Pie could compare to the feeling of dread at this moment. After all, how would it feel to you if you went from having friends care about you when you were sick, to realizing that it was nothing but a dream and those friends weren't actually there for you; to realize that almost nobody was there for you when you needed them?

"It's not real…it's not…" he muttered quietly to himself before he turned over onto his right side so he was facing away from Pinkie Pie as be began to silently cry.

Pinkie Pie just looked at the back of his head. Her grin was gone, replaced by a very sad expression. Her mane was still puffy, but she didn't carry the radiant, happy attitude that she did most of the time.

"Petey, I'm sorry." She said in a tone just above a whisper, which was very uncommon for her. "I really wish I could help you feel better, but even I don't know what to say, and I usually know exactly how to make everypony smile."

"Pinkie…why…" Pete mumbled through choked sobs as he could feel his tears running down the sides of his face and landing on the fabric of the bed, which looked slightly more transparent than it had before. But it was still solid enough for Pete to lie on without fear of falling through it and landing on the floor. "…Why did everything have to happen this way?"

Pinkie Pie looked down for a second before she quickly disappeared under the hospital bed. A few moments later, she popped up on the other side, right in front of Pete's tear-filled eyes so she could look at him face-to-face. She gently put her hoof onto Pete's hand, and leaned in so she was mere inches from his face and could get his attention easier.

He still wasn't looking directly at Pinkie Pie; rather he was staring off at the boring, white wall that behind her crazy cotton-candy mane, which she noticed. She let out a deep sigh and began to speak in a very un-Pinkie-like, serious tone.

"Pete, look at me."

Pete sighed and looked over at Pinkie Pie, their eyes meeting. Surprisingly, Pete couldn't help but feel a little bit better as he looked into her big, blue eyes that still had the same innocence they always had, even after everything that she had seen, after all of the violence and horror that she had witnessed in a five minute drive through a warzone that was once downtown Wilmont, she still had an air of purity that could only exist with either a young child or a cartoon character.

In addition to the innocence, however, there was something else. There was worry for the boy she cared about, the one who shouted down his parents because of the unconditional love he had for her, the one who she could count on to stand up for her when she was in trouble. The boy she loved.

As Pete continued to look into her eyes, he couldn't help but give a small smile. It was a small, but genuine smile. Nothing extravagant or over-the-top like one of Pinkie's expressions or smiles, but it was a sign that Pete was starting to feel a little better.

Pinkie just looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "Petey? Are you…are you smiling?" Pete nodded and Pinkie Pie couldn't help but give a small chuckle, "I didn't even need to say anything to cheer you up, I knew I could make anypony feel better. I guess it doesn't even have to be intentional."

"Pinkie, just looking at your cute face; the one that always manages to make me happy…I feel much better. You don't ever need to say another word as long as you live…"

"You don't have to worry about that, I love talking!" Pinkie Pie interrupted with a grin. "I could talk forever and I've often wanted to!"

"I know you could." Pete just laughed some more before he continued, "As long as I get to look into your beautiful eyes, I won't ever feel alone again."

Pinkie Pie blushed, "Well if you're looking into my eyes, I'm with you so you're obviously not alone you silly…"

She didn't get a chance to finish, for Pete silenced her with a kiss. Her eyes shot open for a brief second before she began to kiss back. Pete could see that, even during their brief make-out session, she was smiling like she always had. Even as they kissed, both of them looked at each other with smiles on their faces. It only took a few moments before the entire hospital room, except the bed, faded away into nothingness. Pete slowly stood up and took a step away from the bed. Once he did so, the bed finally started to fade. Eventually, like everything else in the room, it was gone.

Pete now stared down at Pinkie Pie with the upmost seriousness, "Discord will pay. The fucker who tricked me and brought me back to my time in the hospital, and used my terrible experiences against me…he's going down."

Pinkie Pie squealed in delight before she wrapped her hooves around Pete and they hugged tightly.

"Oh I cannot wait to have a big party to celebrate Discord's defeat! I can make all sorts of food, put up all sorts of colorful decorations. Oh! And you can help me out if you'd like. I could always use a helping hoof!"

Pete laughed, "I'd like that a lot."

In the Mayor's office, both Pete and Pinkie Pie's Elements of Laughter were glowing.

**Alex **

Applejack walked through the dense apple orchard to find where Alex as. She could hear his voice in the distance, and began to follow it. The sun beat on the back of her neck as she slowly walked through the orchard to find out where Alex's voice was coming from. Every now and then she'd have the irresistible urge to buck a tree, just to be cured of the homesickness she felt. But she resisted and remembered herself how this wasn't any time for "horsing around", as she needed to find her partner as soon as possible.

But the familiar feeling that being in an apple orchard brought still resonated with her as she continued her search.

"_It really does feel like ah'm back home though."_ Applejack thought with a smile as she slowly trotted through the orchard, the sunlight creeping through the trees as the sun began to set for the night, giving the sky a purplish-orange tinge that Applejack had to admit was quite stunning.

After about a minute of walking she finally came to a clearing where the voices were coming from.

Applejack slowly crept over to a tree and hid, peering around the trunk to see who was talking. She saw Alex picking apples from some of the trees with his father. Alex was still his seventeen-year old self, except there was something different, namely the lack of scars on his face from the constant beatings that he got from his stepfather; his skin was also tanner from working outside in the Texan sun.

But more than anything else, he had a huge smile on his face. A smile that she had never seen, a smile of pure bliss and joy.

He was wearing a worn-out Tony Romo jersey, a pair of jeans with a hole over the right knee, and the same Cowboy's cap that he had on when he first met Applejack. This hat had been his father's until he gave it to Alex when he was ten. Ever since, Alex had loved the hat, both in the dream and in reality.

Surprisingly, it still fit his head at age seventeen, but Alex didn't complain. After all, whenever he wore it, he was reminded of how much his father loved him, and when he wore it in reality, it made him feel like he was still with him.

Applejack also recognized the hat from their first meeting, when she was just the human girl named "Anna" who was from Tennessee, wherever that was. The girl that Alex had found an immediate attraction to, which increased when he figured out that she was really the sweet and honest country pony he always watched on Saturdays mornings when his mother was at work and his father was sleeping off his TGIF hangover.

"What's mom making for dinner?" Alex asked his father in a slight southern accent as he threw a few apples into a wooden bucket that was by his feet. He looked up at his father, who tossed in a few apples from a tree that he had just walked over from.

"Um…ah think pasta or chicken, ah'm not really sure though," Alex's father answered in his southern drawl as he took his own hat off, which was actually a Ranger's baseball cap rather than a Cowboys' one, and ran his hand over his head to get rid of some sweat and grime he'd accumulated from working outside, before he pulled the cap back on and smiled, "ether way, it'll be a reward for a day well spent out here in the orchard."

"Yeah. ah'm still nervous about the Cowboys being in the NFC Championship tomorrow." Alex said. "Do ya think they'll win?"

"They should, even if they're down Romo is such a clutch quarterback it shouldn't be a problem."

"That's true, no quarterback is better in the fourth quarter."

They both grabbed the last bucket that was filled with apples before loading it onto the back of a pick-up truck, which already had a bunch of other apple buckets on it. They both shut the trunk of the flatbed and brushed themselves off in satisfaction from a good day's work.

"All right let's head inside." Alex's father muttered and Alex nodded. Just before he was about to get into the truck. He felt something clock him on the back of the head. It didn't hit him too hard, but hard enough to catch his attention and cause a small jolt of pain to shoot through his head.

"Ow! What the hell?" he muttered as his gaze drifted down to see a single apple lying on the ground. He bent over and picked it up. After examining it for a moment, he turned around to see Applejack standing in the dirt road behind the truck. She was tossing another apple playfully into the air and had a smile on her face.

"Boy howdy, y'all here have a mighty ineffective way of buckin' apples, if ah do say so mahself. Pikin' em one at a time? That must take y'all forever." She laughed a little bit before tossing the apple into the air, turning around and bucking it with her hind hooves so that it hit one of the nearby trees with a powerful force. It splattered onto the bark, leaving nothing more than a white mush with specks of red skin.

She nodded in admiration of her buck before she turned her attention back to Alex, who just stared at her before he managed to speak.

"A-Applejack?"

"Eeyup." Applejack said with a nod.

"What are you doing here?" Alex asked as his voice reverted back to his northern accent.

Applejack sighed and trotted over to Alex, "Ah am here ta wake ya up."

"W-wake me up?"

"That's right. Alex, none of this is real, this ain't the truth. It's all a part of a dream."

Alex shook his head, clearly in denial, "No…no this is real..." He could feel his eyes begin to fill with tears that he normally would have hidden from people, "It has to be."

Applejack sadly shook her head, "Ah'm sorry Alex, but it ain't. It's just a spell Discord put on ya."

"No, it's not a spell AJ. It's real; my Dad is really here in the truck. I can go get him if you want…I can show you that he's really here. Besides he'll really like meeting you."

"Alex yer father ain't really there." Applejack said sternly, "Deep down ya know this ain't true, even if ya want it ta be."

Alex's heart sank and he just stared at Applejack for a moment before he turned and bolted back to the truck, shouting "Dad!" at the top of his lungs, desperate to prove to Applejack, and himself, that his father was really there with him, and that he wasn't dreaming.

He sprinted over to the driver's side door and flung it open only to see exactly what he had feared.

Emptiness; no one was in the truck. He could feel his heart freeze as the sudden realization hit him like a ton of bricks. He slowly backed away from the pick-up until his back was against one of the apple trees that lined the dirt road. He slowly sat down onto the grass as everything that was around him, the trees, the truck, the grass and even the buckets of apples, began to disappear into nothingness.

"No…please no." he whispered just as everything but Applejack disappeared into the white void that everyone else had experienced so far in their dreams. Alex put his face into his hands and began to cry harder than he ever had in his life. As said before, it was rare for Alex to cry in front of anyone, but now he couldn't hold back, and now Applejack got to see Alex's true emotions pour out in a flood of tears.

Applejack walked over to his side and put her hoof onto his shoulder, rubbing it reassuringly, "Alex, it'll be okay."

Alex shook his head, "I should have known. Nothing ever is this perfect in real life."

He continued to cry when he felt Applejack lean against his left side. He looked up to see her sitting beside him.

"It can be close ta perfect." She replied, "Ah know ya feel like ya don't have a family ta count on. But it ain't too late ta find one."

Alex chuckled, "Right, because I could convince my mother to dump my loser stepfather."

Applejack shook her head, "No, ya can live with me."

"And your family?" Alex asked and Applejack shook her head.

"_Our_ family." She said, which made Alex look at her in bewilderment. He wiped some of his tears away.

She slowly took her trademark hat off and raked her left hoof through her mane. She began to nervously move the hat around in her hooves while she continued to speak, "Alex, ah already think of ya as part of mah family, ya know that. And ah know Big Macintosh, Applebloom and Granny Smith will see ya in the same way, especially when ah say we're in love."

"Won't Big Mac want to buck me in the groin when you tell him that?" Alex asked as he turned to face Applejack with a small smile.

Applejack let out a small laugh. "Eh, he may be protective, but he ain't unreasonable." She answered before looking up at Alex's hat. He noticed this and sighed. He reached up and took it off before looking at it with a sense of longing.

"You know, I always wore this hat to feel less alone. When I had it on, I felt like my father was there with me…like I had him and my mother back…the way it used to be." He sighed as he traced his fingers over the Dallas Cowboy's logo, which looked worn from age.

Applejack smiled and picked her Stetson hat up with her mouth, got onto her hind-legs, placing her fore-hooves onto Alex's shoulders to help her keep balance, and gently placed the hat on top of Alex's head. He turned to look at her, only to see her hop off of his shoulders and give him a smile, "There, now ya have a new hat to remind ya of our family, ta remember ya ain't alone, that ah'll always be there…that the entire Apple family will be there for ya."

Alex just stared at the Earth pony before he slowly reached up and felt the rough texture of the brim before he felt a smile grow on his face. He looked at Applejack and could feel more tears coming, but now they were tears of gratitude for her kindness. He hugged Applejack tight as she returned it almost instantaneously, letting out a small, happy sigh.

"Ah love ya Alex."

"I know you do.' Alex answered as he let his Cowboy's hat fall from his hand. It landed onto the white ground before it began to slowly fade away. "And I love you too."

They then kissed and, in the Mayor's office, the Elements of Honesty began to glow.

**James **

"Smile!" Patrick said cheerfully as James and his parents stood together for a graduation photo. Once the camera flashed, Patrick looked up at them and nodded, "Got it."

Patrick handed the camera back to his father while his mother hugged James enthusiastically.

"Congratulations James." she said with a big smile as he reunited with them after his graduation, "We are so proud of everything that you've accomplished."

James smiled as he stifled back his tears. His parents and Patrick all looked at him with a sense of pride. They were actually proud of everything that he had done, all of the hard work he put into school, instead of trying to find fault with it like they did in his real life.

He was beaming. Even though he was getting extremely hot standing in the sun while he wore his graduation cloak and cap, which made him feel like he was in a sauna, he was so happy that the day had finally come. The day that all of his hard work had been rewarded, and his family was right there with him, applauding him and saying how proud they were of him.

"Thanks."

The four of them all started to walk off to their car, passing other students who were talking with their parents, smiles on their faces; hugs and congratulations being given everywhere.

"And now the real adventure begins." James' father said with a smile.

"After about two and a half months of sleeping in." James joked as he took his cap off to look at the tassels he got, which were more than the average student since he was one of the top students in the class. James' parents started to walk off to the car, James and Patrick lagged behind so they could talk about college stuff that they would most likely get in trouble for talking about.

James looked up at Patrick, who had a look of extreme pride for his little brother's accomplishment. He patted James on the back with a small laugh.

"I cannot wait for us to get to Stanford so you and I can hang out more," Patrick laughed, "I know some kick-ass places to party, and with me as your big brother, the star soccer player, you'll have no problem getting access to any of them."

"Eh, I'm not big on partying." James said, "besides, how good are parties when you don't drink?"

That was true, in his fantasy James stayed clear of alcohol and partying. The main reason he got drunk so often in real life was because of Caroline and the need to escape the sadness he felt for her. Since she was doing so well and his parents and brother were treating him with respect in his dream, there was no reason to get drunk. Not just that, but having such caring parents made him even more determined to stay away from alcohol.

"Hey are you going to stop by Caroline's house?" Patrick asked, "I know she wants to see you since she couldn't make it to the ceremony."

James nodded, "Yeah she had a soccer game, and I was planning on stopping by her house, once I got out of these robes, I swear I feel like I'm in the Sahara."

James was so happy for his little cousin, that she had been able to do so much with her soccer skills. She was playing on a premier soccer team and had been in the newspaper quite a few times already. She was really upset that she couldn't make James' graduation, but he understood. In fact, he promised that he'd stop by her house once the ceremony ended and he had gotten his diploma.

They were both walking off when he felt something tap him on the shoulder. He turned around to see Fluttershy flying just behind him with a nervous blush on her face.

He froze and looked at the mare, shocked to see the cartoon pony standing behind him.

"Um…hi James. I'm really sorry to disturb your dream…but it's time to wake up…if you don't mind."

James just looked at her in shock before he turned and looked to his brother, who was just frozen in place, mid-stride. James' jaw dropped as he watched Patrick begin to fade away. But it wasn't just Patrick, it was everything else around him. James looked around, doing an almost 360 turn to observe all of his surroundings fading away right before his eyes.

"No, you've got to be kidding me, this can't be a dream." James muttered as he remembered how his family truly treated him, how they would never shower him with praise like they did in this dream; how his cousin had succumbed to cancer before she could become a star soccer player. His mind gave one last attempt at denial by turning to Fluttershy and pleading, "Please…"

"James, I'm really sorry but it is a dream." Fluttershy sadly muttered.

James couldn't help but fall to the concrete walkway and sob, slowly watching as the ground changed from concrete to white nothingness, just as everything else was. His graduation robe and cap faded away, leaving James in the same t-shirt and jeans he was wearing in real life.

James then went from being sad to laughing. But it wasn't a happy kind of laughter, it was the aggravated laughter that people did when they were pissed off.

"Great, just wonderful."

"Discord put a spell on you. He put you in a dream where your one true wish was true." Fluttershy said sadly, "but that's all it was…a dream…please don't be mad at me."

James shook his head, "Fluttershy I'm not mad at you."

Fluttershy seemed to calm down for a second before James clenched his teeth in anger, "But Discord that…that FUCKING ASSHOLE!" he stomped his foot onto the white ground, which made Fluttershy jump back a bit, though she did understand his frustration.

James' face was red and shiny from the tears he continued to shed. Fluttershy didn't want to say anything, but she had a question that she knew would keep nagging her until she got it answered.

"Um James…if you don't mind me asking, what was your one true wish, because I heard Caroline was still alive _and_ your parents seemed to treat you better."

"That was it." James mumbled, "I used to always wish that Caroline was never sick, and that my parents treated me better. They were both my true wishes, I guess. So Discord must have made them both come true."

"James, " Fluttershy asked, "I really am sorry about everything, especially your sweet little cousin. But you shouldn't ever let your parents and brother get you down; ever."

"Why not?" James muttered as he looked up at Fluttershy for an answer as she hovered above him.

"Well, I may have only known them for a little bit, but I have to say that they seemed like the meanest, nastiest, rudest, most judgmental people I've ever met. And if they ever say anything bad about you again I'll teach them to learn to appreciate what a great boy you are!" Fluttershy ended on a shout, which made James jump back in shock. He was so used to her calm attitude, he completely forgot how crazy she could get when she was angry, and this time was no different. With each word that came out of her mouth, her expression changed from calm and sweet to angry and venomous.

Fluttershy, rather Flutterrage, then concluded by shouting, "Never let them get you down, they do NOT deserve you as a son!"

Fluttershy began to inhale and exhale deeply before she realized how loudly she was shouting and backed up with a blush on her face, "Sorry I…I think I may have gotten carried away."

James just stared for a moment at the embarrassed mare before he began to laugh. She looked at him in confusion as he continued to laugh harder. Finally, he calmed himself down enough to speak, "Oh God, Fluttershy. That's why I love you. You're the kindest, most timid pony ever, but when it comes to your friends, you do anything to protect them. Even if it's not in your nature and it involves you getting angry."

Fluttershy gave James a small smile, "Thanks James, you're really sweet."

"Not as sweet as you."

They looked at each other and leaned in to kiss. James felt all of the pain that had built up throughout his life dissipate into nothingness. Before he met Fluttershy, he'd drink and party to escape his misery, which was caused by Caroline's suffering as well as his family not caring about him. He was often moody and angry, something that he could only get rid of when he was either drunk off his ass, singing KISS songs; or when he was watching My Little Pony. Fluttershy had always cheered him up, both as a cartoon character and in real-life. With her showing her protective side, after such a wishful dream, James was done caring about what his parents thought of him. All that mattered was Fluttershy, and any doubt he had about that before was now gone.

As they continued to kiss, in City Hall, both Fluttershy and James' Elements of Kindness began to glow.

**Ryan **

As soon as Rainbow Dash entered Ryan's dream, her jaw dropped and her eyes widened in pure shock when she realized where exactly she was. She wasn't in a place that she didn't recognize, in fact, she recognized it all too well.

"_Wh…why am I in my house?"_

She was indeed in her large, cloud mansion that she hadn't been in for days. Even though she hadn't been there since leaving for Earth her house looked as though somepony had never left, for there was a stack of unclean dishes in the sink, a couple of the lights were on, and she could see that someone had just finished eating at the dining room table.

Rainbow Dash trotted around to see a slew of pictures that hung up on the wall, but it was who was in those pictures that grabbed her attention the most. She saw her own smiling, awesome face, but she also saw what appeared to be a male Pegasus with a dark blue coat and a striped yellow and light blue mane and tail. Besides his coat and mane color, he looked relatively similar to Soarin in body structure. But he was much smaller than most stallions, only about two inches taller than Rainbow Dash herself, very tiny for a stallion.

"Who the hay is this guy?" she muttered in confusion as her eyes scanned the pictures of her and this mysterious Pegasus flying together, relaxing in the park, making funny faces into the camera that included both of them doing the face Rainbow Dash made at the guards where she stuck her tongue out and shook her head to taunt them, and a picture of the two of them kissing in Twilight's library.

There was even a picture of both of them at a party, both looking irritated as Pinkie Pie jumped in front of the camera just as the photo was taken, blocking most of the stallion's face. She may not have known who the mysterious pony was, but it appeared that she was in a relationship with him.

As she kept looking at the picture, she heard footsteps approaching. She quickly turned around to see the same Pegasus that was in the picture standing behind her with a warm smile on his face, and a set of light blue eyes.

"Hey Dashie." He said in a familiar voice, a voice that Rainbow Dash recognized. the

Her jaw dropped in shock. "R-Ryan?"

"Who else would it be?" The blue Pegasus, Ryan, said with a small laugh before he walked over to her and planted a kiss on the forehead. He took a step back and smiled, his face blushing a bit. Rainbow Dash's eyes were wide in shock as she looked over Ryan's new form, the form of a Pegasus stallion.

"I was just talking to my parents with that magical device Twilight gave me to communicate with them. I'm just happy they're okay with me living dimensions away, we can still stay in touch." Ryan said with a small sigh of relief.

Rainbow Dash shook her head to snap herself out of the shock that she was in before she spoke up, "Why are you a Pegasus?"

Ryan seemed a bit taken aback by the statement before he laughed nervously, "W-what do you mean Dashie? I've been a Pegasus ever since Twilight accidently brought me here when she messed up a dimensional spell."

Rainbow Dash just kept staring before she managed to speak up again, "You…you're one wish was…was to be a Pegasus?"

"Well, not just that," Ryan said with a smile, "after all I did always have a crush on the most beautiful, fastest, sweetest mare in all of Equestria."

"This was your wish?" she whispered, "This is your fantasy? To be with me?"

Ryan nodded and Rainbow Dash felt her cheeks turn red in embarrassment. She never felt such a mixture of embarrassment and pride in her life. Now she knew Ryan loved her, but this was something beyond love.

Ryan looked worried; "Dashie is something wrong? You're acting weird."

"Well…I…Ryan we need to talk." Rainbow Dash suddenly felt herself blushing, "Ryan…none of this is real. I am but…but we aren't really in my house."

Ryan looked down at Rainbow Dash with confusion, "What are you talking about sweetie?"

Now Rainbow Dash felt her entire face turn a bright red. Nopony ever called her "sweetie" before. Even Ryan had only called her Dashie, but he now called her sweetie and. Even with the given circumstances and her being the "tough-girl" who normally would hate pet names outside of "Dashie", she couldn't help but smile a little bit. But then she remembered her mission and the smile fell almost as soon as it graced her face.

She let out a sigh and spoke, "Ryan we're still in Wilmont City Hall, and this is all a dream. Discord put you into your perfect world, where your one true wish would come true, so it would be hard for you to accept reality and wake up."

"No, Dashie I've been here for a year. See those pictures?" Ryan asked as he pointed to the wall that was completely covered in photographs, "now how could I remember each of those days if this was a dream."

"_Do_ you remember those days?" Rainbow Dash asked skeptically. "Or do you just think that you do?"

"Yeah of course I remember them." Ryan nodded and trotted over to the pictures and pointed to the one where Rainbow Dash was in a spandex blue suits and goggles. Rainbow Dash recognized as Wonderbolt uniforms, "That's us after…um after one of your Wonderbolt shows." He said after thinking for a second, like he didn't remember the event and just said an answer that made sense. Rainbow Dash was initially excited at the idea of her being on the Wonderbolts, but then reminded herself that it was just Ryan's dream.

Ryan then pointed at the picture of them at the picnic, "And that…was some picnic I …guess." He muttered with uncertainty. He looked slightly nervous that he couldn't quite remember before he looked at another picture, which was the one where both of them were at a party and being photo-bombed by Pinkie. "Well…I…don't remember that one."

He stepped back in shock as he looked at all of the photos, and realizing that he couldn't remember the events and days that they were taken at, as if they never truly happened and he just thought they did. "I...I don't remember any of them. What the hay, what's going on?"

Rainbow Dash sighed, "Look, Ryan. I wish this were real too. You don't think I'd like to be her in my house with you, together in a relationship that nopony has ever even tried to have with me? Not to mention being a Wonderbolt, the dream I had since I was a filly? It would be great!"

Rainbow Dash finished talking with a dreamy smile on her face as she looked at the image of herself in the Wonderbolts uniform before she let out a deep sigh, "But I'm not really a Wonderbolt, and you aren't really a Pegasus, and we aren't in my house. THAT'S why you don't remember any of these events, because they never actually happened. They're just what you wished for, not what has actually happened."

Ryan's expression fell into a state of shock. His memory suddenly came back to him and, slowly but surely, the entire house faded away. Ryan looked around before he looked down at his hooves to see them glow and transform into his human hands. It only took a few moments for the animated Pegasus to be replaced by the regular, realistic teenage boy that Ryan truly was. He sat down, looking at his hands and letting out a deep sigh in disappointment. He remembered that he wasn't living with Rainbow Dash, that he wasn't a Pegasus, and that his parents were not merely separated by dimensions, they were dead.

The only thing that made this news relatively easier to take was that he really was with Rainbow Dash. That she was real and they really did love each other.

Rainbow Dash and Ryan were now alone in the completely white dream as Rainbow Dash slowly walked towards Ryan with an inquisitive look on her face.

"Ryan, you're one true wish was to be with me? Even before we met?" Rainbow Dash asked with clear confusion.

Ryan nodded and let out a small chuckle, "You act surprised. You know I had a crush on you before we personally knew each other, hell all six of us guys did."

"Not like this though," Rainbow Dash said, "I didn't think being my colt-friend would be your one true wish out of everything else in the world. Over money, fame…"

"Well it was." Ryan snapped with slight aggravation, which made Rainbow Dash flinch. Once he saw her reaction, his expression softened and he buried his face into his hands and let out another sigh. He then looked up at Rainbow Dash, his eyes covered in some mist as he tried to hold back his tears, "Dashie…I didn't just have a little crush on you before I met you, I loved you. Every day since I started watching the show I'd wish that you were real, and that I'd have a chance to be with you, even if it was just as a friend. Hell, just to meet you would have been good enough for me."

"Some days I actually felt depressed because when I thought about you, I thought that you weren't real. I actually felt like crying sometimes…and I did. I did have a great life; even with the bullying I had two great parents who made a good amount of money and provided me with the best of everything."

"I know I probably should have wished for something like no more bullying or Lawrence being my friend, like I did when I was younger. But as soon as I started watching the show, I realized that if I could be with you…even if it was just as a friend, that my life would be wholly perfect. Of course my wish also included me being able to stay in touch with my parents even when I lived with you, which isn't possible now because they're dead."

Ryan then wiped some tears away as he continued to look straight ahead, his knees held close to his chest as he silently cried.

Rainbow Dash walked over to his side. "Ryan this might be a dream, but you really do have me, and I do love you, more than anypony else." She said with a reassuring smile, "We just aren't in my house, we're in the city hall."

Ryan nodded, "I know."

Rainbow Dash thought of something else, "Why were you a Pegasus instead of a human?"

Ryan looked up at Rainbow Dash as tears began to roll down his cheeks, "Because I wanted to feel like we were equals. That…that we could be together…that we could fly together."

Rainbow Dash walked over to his side and sat down beside him, "You know, I'm surprised you didn't wish for me to be a human then, if you like this whole "equals" thing..."

Ryan shook his head, "Dashie, I fell for you as the amazingly awesome and beautiful Pegasus that you are. I never would want you to change for any reason or anyone, especially not for me. You're a beautiful mare, Dashie, and never let anyone or anypony tell you otherwise."

Rainbow Dash turned to Ryan and gave him a small smile, which he returned.

"I don't want you to change either, though." She answered back, "even though you do make a very handsome Pegasus, just like I thought you would."

They remained sitting and staring into each other's eyes before they kissed.

And in the Mayor's office, Rainbow Dash and Ryan's Elements of Loyalty began to glow.

All that was left were the Elements of Magic.

**Carl **

"Is my dad going to be fine?" The twelve-year old Carl asked as he stood over his father's body as he tiredly looked up at his son. A large, bloody piece of gauze was hidden under his hospital gown, covering the gunshot wound. But, surprisingly, he was going to be all right; at least that what the doctor said.

"Yes he will, he just needs to stay here for a few days so we can keep an eye on him." The doctor said happily as he walked out of the room to talk more with some of the doctors. Lauren went over to Carl's father's side and sat down in a chair that had been pulled beside it. Lisa walked over beside Carl, who was beaming at the entire scene. His father was going to be all right, and once he left the hospital, he would be living back with Lauren, Carl and Lisa.

Their family was back together after the separation. A separation that Carl thought was far too long to being with. He knew his father and mother loved each other, and now it was shown that even death couldn't stop their love for each other.

"How are you feeling Dad?" Carl whispered.

His dad gave him a reassuring smile, "Fine."

"Dad, are…are you going to be able to get out in time to see my last few soccer games?" Carl asked and his father nodded.

"Yeah, of course I will."

Carl grinned and hugged his father back. He could feel his eyes filling with tears as he hugged his father tightly. It felt like the hug could last forever, and he wished it would. After such a scary occurrence, where his father was almost killed, it was wonderful to feel him hug back.

Unfortunately, reality always makes its presence known. In this case, reality came in the form of a violet, animated pony.

"I knew this was going to be your wish."

Carl looked up and turned from his father to see Twilight lying on the foot of the bed like a dog would, with a sad smile on her face and her caring eyes looking right into Carl's own.

He just looked at her in confusion. He knew that he saw this pony somewhere, but he wasn't sure where. Just then he looked back at his father, and saw that he was frozen in place. "Dad?" he asked as he nudged his father. When he saw that he wasn't moving, he nudged him a few times, "Dad!"

When his father failed to stir, Carl backed away before looking up at his mother and Lisa, and noticing that they were frozen as well. He then looked directly at Twilight with fear in his eyes, "Who…who are you? What did you do to my dad…and my mother and Lisa!"

"I didn't do anything, your subconscious is starting to recognize me, even if you don't." Twilight answered.

"What are you talking about, I've never seen you before."

"I shouldn't be too surprised that you don't consciously remember me yet, after all the show wasn't around when you were twelve."

Carl began to feel like something was wrong with this entire scene, like it was only a projection of some kind. Suddenly, the entire room began to slowly fade. The young Carl stood up in shock as the image of his father became more and more transparent. In fact, everything was becoming more transparent except for Carl and the violet mare that hopped off of the disappearing bed and trotted to Carl's side as he just looked down into her eyes, his own showing the fear that he felt.

"Why is everything fading?" he muttered in a way that suggested he was afraid of the cartoon pony.

"Carl, none of this is real, you're in a dream."

"How…how do you know me?"

Twilight sighed, "Carl, my name is Twilight Sparkle…"

"Twilight Sparkle?" Carl raised an eyebrow and let out a nervous chuckle, "That's…that's such a girly name."

He may have just insulted Twilight to seem tough, but he was really scared as hell.

"Well in your world I come from a show associated with girls, even if my version…the one that actually exists in another dimension… isn't really gender-specific. In a few years there will be a show called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, a show that you will become a huge fan of."

Carl scoffed, "My Little Pony? Pfft…that's for girls'. Why would I watch that stupid frou-frou stuff? I don't even watch it when Lisa watches it."

"It's different than the My Little Pony from when you were twelve, and you…" Twilight closed her eyes and let out a sigh, "…needed an escape…especially after your father died."

Carl's face froze in shock and confusion about what Twilight had just said, "What do you mean? My…my dad isn't dead."

"Yes, Carl." Twilight answered sadly, "He is. He didn't survive the gunshot wound."

"Yes he did, he was alive just a few minutes ago! The doctor said he'd be all right!"

"Please accept the truth Carl, I know it's hard but you've got to understand that he's gone."

"No…no he was fine." Carl muttered as he pointed accusingly at Twilight, "he was until you made him go away! Until you took him from me!"

"Carl! Please stop living in the dream, stop with this denial." Twilight pleaded as she got onto her back-hooves and stood up so she was up to Carl's level. In fact, when she stood on her back-legs, she was a little taller than the younger Carl. "Carl look into my eyes and remember everything that you won't let yourself. Remember me, please."

Carl looked into Twilight eyes and began to lose his sense of denial, and began to realize that he was really asleep in City Hall, put under a spell from Discord. Slowly, Carl began to go from being the young boy he was earlier in his dream to his normal, teenage self.

He could feel his sadness growing within him, the sadness that he had held deep within his soul ever since his father died.

"Carl…" Twilight began, only to see Carl break down in tears. She hugged him and started to console him; doing everything she could to make him feel better, but it wasn't working. With Carl, he was more upset than the others were, and it was clear that it would take him longer to completely accept reality.

**Wilmont City Hall**

While Twilight tried to comfort Carl and bring him out of his dream, Obscure made his way up the stairs to the sixth floor, where Discord had gone to after trapping the six boys in their perfect dreams. As he walked, he was being persistently followed be a familiar colt.

"What are you doing?" Crescent asked as he followed his older self.

"Redeeming myself." Obscure answered bluntly as he approached a large, oak door that had formed on the sixth floor. It had not been there until that night, since Discord had made it his second, more luxurious room upon transforming back into his Draconequus form. Upon entering the room, he could see Discord, as usual, looking outside at the city. Obscure could feel his blood boil as he realized how much Discord was enjoying the destruction, and how much he enjoyed it himself. He shuddered a little bit as he turned to Crescent, who nodded to him; as if to give Obscure his blessings to continue into the room.

"Sir?" Obscure called out, making Discord turn around to look at him, sliding his the sunglasses that he wore down the bridge of his muzzle to get a better look at Obscure.

"What is it Obscure, can't you see I'm busy watching the show?"

""The show"? That's a fitting thing to call a war where people mutilate each other." Obscure growled.

This grabbed all of Discord's attention. He froze in shock at his assistant's sudden outburst.

"What was that?" he asked as he slowly turned around to face Obscure, who was staring him down.

"Is this really what you wanted?" Obscure hissed, "death and destruction that would cause anypony in Equestria to go mad in fear? Sir we've taken this too far."

"And what is too far to you Obscure?" Discord mocked, "after all you did kill others for me, what gives you the right to criticize what I do when you were the one who helped me do it? Must I need to bring up Mr. Hanson and Bright Illusion? You knew what you were getting yourself into when you joined me."

"You tricked me."

Discord growled and teleported himself right in front of Obscure so he was mere centimeters away from the unicorn's face.

"Only by bringing your true wishes to fruition!" he growled, "if you didn't truly envy them, I wouldn't have been able to control you in the first place."

Obscure tried to say something, but stopped himself. A sudden wave of guilt flooded over him as he realized that Discord was right, it was his envy that had made him turn against Princess Celestia, against Bright…hell it led him to _kill_ Bright.

But then he felt rage; for while he believed that he deserved blame, he also knew Discord did as well. He felt his heart rate increase as he glared into the God of Chaos' yellow eyes, a seething hatred radiating from them, "You still made me do everything, and you deserve the blame as much as I do."

Discord growled, "What are you getting at Obscure?"

Obscure charged up his horn and smiled, "It's time for me to end this, once and for all."

He blasted a beam of magic at Discord, knocking him back into his desk, effectively crushing it beyond recognition. Discord quickly got up and laughed, "Little overconfidence I see?"

"Well I was the top student at Princess Celestia's academy, as you know." Obscure said brashly with a smug smile.

"Oh I do," Discord said as he brushed off some dust from his shoulders, "but last I checked, you might be a top student…but I'm a _GOD_."

And with that, he used his own magic to lift Obscure into the air and slam him into the wall. Obscure fell to the ground, only to be lifted up again and slammed into the ceiling. He was then released and collapsed onto the floor, letting out groans of pain.

**Carl's Dream**

Carl was still in tears while Twilight continued to comfort him. She felt bad for Carl, but at the same time knew that they had to wake up. He couldn't continue to sob like he was, he had to let the memory of his father go, even for just a brief moment, so that Discord could be defeated.

"Carl, please calm down, I know that you're upset, but we don't have time for tears. Not while Discord is still causing havoc." Twilight said in a tone that was mix of sympathy and seriousness. Her eyes didn't look sad or angry; they looked almost unemotional as she tried her best to show Carl how vital it be that they both wake up to defeat Discord.

He wiped some of his tears away and looked at Twilight, "It's…it's just so hard to see your father one minute, alive and well, and the next realize he was never alive and it was only a dream."

"I know it is Carl, and normally I'd be fine with you expressing your sadness instead of holding them back," Twilight said with a sigh, "but not now. Not while you're under Discord's spell. Not as he destroys your world."

Carl buried his face into his hands to brood over his predicament for a moment before he looked back up at Twilight and gave her small nod. "I know."

"Carl, when this is done, I want you to talk about this with me." Twilight said, "but we don't have time right now. I wish we did, but we don't."

"Twilight, don't worry about it." Carl said. "I…I know I need to put it behind me but, it's…it's just so hard. I've held onto my emotions for five years, and to suddenly stop expressing them now is hard."

They two of them continued to sit there for a few more moments before Carl spoke up, "Why does it seem like the better person you are, the worse luck you have?"

Twilight shrugged, "I don't know, usually the nicer ponies have better luck. After all look at Flim and Flam. They cheated and it wound up biting them in the…"

"I'm talking my world here Twi." Carl answered with a sniffle; "your world may have good karma for those who deserve it, and bad karma for those who need to be taught a lesson. But here it's almost the opposite. The more shifty and manipulative you are, the better life you have."

Twilight nodded, "That I can't explain, I'm just as baffled as you are."

Carl and Twilight looked at each other while Twilight continued to talk, "In my short time here, I've managed to see a world that is completely different from mine. I have seen horrors and misery here that would never happen anywhere in Equestria."

Carl looked down, knowing how horrible the entire experience must have been for her. The explosions, the death, everything people tried to escape in this reality by watching a show about fictional ponies that always managed to defeat evil or learn valuable lessons about life and friendship. Lessons that people in our world could often stand to listen to and use to better themselves.

"But I also saw good." Twilight answered, "Just because this world is prone to chaos, doesn't mean it all is. Through my experience with you and the others I've seen the bad side of humanity, but also the good. You are a good person Carl; your friends are good and your family is good. Just because you've lost someone close to you, doesn't mean you're alone. You still have them, and you still have me."

Carl nodded. "I know I do. And I hope that I always will."

Twilight smiled and blushed a little bit, which made Carl crack a smile.

He and Twilight looked at each other one last time before they slowly leant closer to each other and kissed.

And just like that, in the Mayor's office, the last two elements, the Elements of Magic, began to glow. Slowly, the room became engulfed in multicolored brightness from the elements, all of which were glowing from each kiss. Slowly, they became engulfed in a white light as a massive portal began to form to teleport them up to Discord's other office.

Upstairs, Obscure was being flung around like a rag-doll. Discord was almost enjoying his time with his one-time second in command, who was now was nothing more to him than a traitor that needed to be punished.

"What did I tell you Obscure, a God always wins."

Obscure slowly began to get up, his eyes angry and a growl emitting from his throat, "My name…is…CRESCENT!"

Obscure quickly turned around and lunged at Discord, not really a smart move for the supposedly brilliant unicorn student. Discord simply teleported out of the way so that Obscure went straight for the window that Discord had been looking out of before. He tried to stop himself, but it was no use as he skidded into the glass, shattering it and falling over the edge.

Fortunately, he managed to press his hooves into the floor as a means of keeping himself from falling to the city streets below as he scrambled, kicking the air below him in an attempt to hoist himself back up. As he struggled to get up, Discord walked over to him with a smug grin on his face. "Oh how the mighty have _nearly_ fallen."

Once he was where Obscure was hanging, he bent over and grabbed him by the hoof and lifted him to eye-level, so that Obscure was still dangling above the city, but now could look directly into Discord's eyes.

Suddenly a bright light shone into the room as Discord looked up to see a news helicopter flying by. Discord laughed, "Look Obscure it's the news. I sure hope I look good for primetime." Discord combed where his hair would be with his free hand, which was his eagle's claw, and looked down at Obscure with a sadistic smile.

"I do sincerely appreciate all of your help, Obscure. But I do think we've taken this partnership as far as it can go."

Obscure sighed as he prepared for Discord to drop him when, suddenly; there was a bright flash from behind Discord, which made him drop Obscure in shock. Fortunately, Obscure managed to get a hold of the ledge again and kept himself from falling.

Discord turned around to see that all twelve elements were floating behind him, their eyes were all closed, except for Twilight and Carl's. Their eyes were open and glowing as they hovered in front of the others. Each and every necklace and crown was also glowing, as they floated in front of Discord. Obscure's jaw dropped at the sight of them.

Discord just stared in shock and shook his head before he uttered one last phrase that seemed to show acceptance from the Draconequus, "Well played elements, I am impressed."

Just then, the elements sent a multi-colored blast at Discord, causing him to scream as his body began to encase itself in stone. Obscure couldn't help but smile as the light enveloped the entire room, including him. He didn't know why, but he could feel all of the corruption he had within him slowly start to dissipate as he became engulfed in the white light.

A few moments later, Discord was completely stuck in the same stone prison his other half was stuck in. But just because Discord was defeated didn't mean the light coming from the elements dimmed. In fact, the elements continued to grow brighter and brighter until there was a great flash and everyone and everypony was gone, including Obscure.

All that was left was a office in shambles, and Discord, now confined to his stone prison yet again.

The news team in the helicopter could only stare in shock as the six cartoon ponies, one cartoon unicorn, and six teenage boys disappeared in a flash of light that nearly blinded the pilot.

The news reporter who had taped the whole thing summed up the public's reaction perfectly as they watched the event live from their homes.

"What was all of that?"

"It looked like...ponies. Cartoon ponies." answered the cameraman in shock as the camera continued to film the destroyed second office of Mayor Christopher Drocsid, who was now nothing more than a statue.

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I actually think that this was my longest one so far. I also hope my grammar is getting better and if not, don't be afraid to let me know.**

**Also I am not done writing about Wilmont and the aftermath of the war. That will be covered soon.**

**So thanks for reading and, as always...**

**Go Giants! Go Rainbow Dash! **

**Now, if you excuse me, I need to beat myself to forget that I said the Cowboys were in the NFC Championship. Even if it was Alex's dream, I still feel dirty for saying such a thing.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24: The Choice and Good-byes**

**There will be one more chapter after this followed by the epilogue. Expect the next chapter to be out in a day or two because it's written and now all I have to do is edit the heck out of it.**

**Also thank you so much for reading up to this point, I didn't think that this story would ever reach the popularity it has now.**

**I also hope this chapter explains things well enough for you guys.**

**So I hope you enjoy, and I only own my OC characters.**

**Wilmont- Early Morning (about 5 a.m.)**

The sounds of gunfire still echoed throughout the city as the battle wore on. Some anarchists gave up and turned themselves in once the effects of Discord's magic wore off of them and their conscience returned. This included the S.W.A.T. team members who were turned into unicorns by Discord and were just changed back after his defeat. But most others stayed to fight until they were no longer standing. The fire continued to burn throughout the city as the army faced off against the remaining anarchists and unicorns.

But also present now, was a large group of unicorns that were now fighting alongside the soldiers, trying to finish off what little fight the resistance had left in them, knowing that even at the closing battles of a war, there was bound to be an excruciating amount of violence and bloodshed.

Meanwhile, up in City Hall, as some soldiers had made their way into the building, they were examining Discord's stone body, the only thing that remained from the battle that took place within the building only a few short hours before.

As they slowly made their way to the statue, there was a sudden "flash" and "popping" noise, which caused all of the men to jump back in fright. Once they re-gained their bearings, they saw that Discord had gone. They all slowly walk over to the place on the floor where the once mighty stone prison for the God of chaos stood, and look around in confusion, not sure about what had just happened.

All they knew was that Discord was gone.

**Princess Celestia's Castle**

As consciousness began to return to him, Carl slowly began to open his eye to a very bright light, or at least it seemed he had woken up in a white abyss. In fact, he was in a grand room that had white walls and a white ceiling, bright sunlight streaming in through beautiful stained-glass windows that were very familiar to him. Immediately, he knew where he was.

"_Whoa, I'm back in Princess Celestia's castle…that's good right?"_

Carl turned to his left to see Twilight laying a mere six inches away from his face, her eyes closed and her mane askew as she continued to sleep soundly. Her crown element was still on her head, but it was slightly crooked so that part of it was pushed forward while the rest of the crown wasn't.

Carl smiled at how cute she was, and he reached out to stroke her mane, even managing to straighten it out a bit as he did so. She let out a sigh and muttered, "That feels nice."

"Not as nice as your mane feels against my hand," Carl said soothingly, "you must condition the heck out of it, most girls don't have hair as soft as this."

Twilight slowly opened her eyes to see Carl's violet eyes, with were now even more radiantly violet than normal. Twilight's eyes went wide and she grinned from ear to ear as she saw Carl.

"Carl…" she muttered before she put her hooves around him and hugged him tightly, which Carl returned warmly.

"Twi…why are we in the Princess' castle? Am I dreaming again?"

Twilight pulled back and looked around at her surroundings. She then shook her head, "No, I think we defeated Discord. We don't remember because we were asleep when our elements worked on him, in fact I think all twelve of us were. The Princess told me how we'd be brought back here once Discord was defeated."

"How does that work?" Carl asked. "Our element working while we slept."

"The love each of you had for your partner activated the elements while you were out."

Carl and Twilight both turned to see Princess Celestia looking down at them with a kind smile. Suddenly, both Carl and Twilight heard a "pop" and felt their crowns disappear from their heads, both raising their hoof/hand up to feel only the hair on their heads, well, mane in Twilight's case, and no crowny-thing.

"Don't worry, I your elements will be in a safe place," Princess Celestia motioned her head toward a large set of doors, "Follow me, we've been waiting for you two to wake up."

"We?" both Carl and Twilight asked.

"Yes, the others have been up for the past hour." Princess Celestia said with a small chuckle.

"An hour? Why were out so long compared to the others?" Carl asked.

"You two were the Elements of Magic, the element that powers the other five. It drained more of your energy to harness it than it did the others when they did. Thus you remained unconscious for a longer period of time."

Carl and Twilight both gave understanding nods before they both began to stand up. Princess Celestia started to walk towards a large set of doors with Twilight and Carl close behind. As the continued to walk, Carl turned to Twilight.

"Hey Twi."

Twilight looked up at Carl with a face that begged for an answer.

Carl smiled back at her. Nothing over the top, just a simple, thankful, relieved smile, "Thank you again for convincing me to come out of that dream, and I'm sorry that I fought you on it."

Twilight gave a small shrug like it was no big deal, "Don't mention it Carl, not like we had a choice. Besides, it broke me to have to take you away from your father like that, even if it was just fiction."

"I know; that's why I appreciate it so much."

They both reached the double doors as Princess Celestia used her magic to open them. Carl and Twilight then entered a familiar hallway that had many stained-glass windows as well as a long, red carpet that ran from one end of the room to the other. If it were a little longer and not as wide, it could have been considered a hallway, but as it was it was more of a grand room, almost like a dance floor. There were also pillars that were all throughout the room, giving it quite a royal look, as if the stained-glass windows, the heavenly white walls, and the fact that it was in a castle didn't do that already.

Carl and Twilight were also greeted by the welcome sight of their friends; all talking with each other and all safe.

Louis had a bandage around his leg. Apparently the Princess or somepony had taken care of the break for him. He was chatting with Rarity about possible fashion ideas, such as dresses and other fancy outfits that ponies could wear to events such as the Grand Galloping Gala, while Rarity kept shooting him different styles that were "en vogue" at the moment.

Rarity was correct in her earlier theory that Louis' passion for art apparently had translated well into creative and unique ideas for clothing. All Louis had to do was envision a type of fashion that he would love to paint and tell Rarity before she decided if it could make a good design or not. After all, a dress that was good enough to be in a painting would certainly be good enough to make, and she was soon finding out how creative Louis really was.

Pete and Pinkie Pie were now planning a victory party that they planned to hold at Sugarcube Corner. Well, actually, Pinkie Pie was the one doing the planning and spitting out ideas while Pete simply stood by and listened, telling Pinkie Pie what his opinion on her different ideas were. Most of the time he approved with what she came up with, no matter how ridiculous the idea might have sounded. Whenever she had a radical idea that Pete thought was illogical to even think about pulling off, he reminded himself that he was talking to Pinkie Pie, the destroyer of logic and reason. He knew that she would find a way to make it work.

Alex and Applejack were standing with James and Fluttershy. All four of them were discussing James and Alex's dreams, and how their families were complete and perfect. How Alex's father was alive and his mother was still married to him. How James' parents and brother treated him with respect and Caroline was still alive, kicking ass and taking names in soccer instead of withering away in her bed as the cancer in her body slowly killed her.

James also went on about how Fluttershy had shouted down his parents in a very uncharacteristic way for the usually quiet, shy mare that could give the most manly man diabetes from her cuteness. James' story only made Fluttershy blush and try to hide behind her mane. Applejack continued to embarrass Fluttershy when she complimented her "standin' by her man" and telling her how she should shout down James' parents in real life if given the chance. Fluttershy surprisingly agreed with this.

Alex was also wearing Applejack's Stetson hat, leaving the country mare's blonde mane exposed for all to see. When James had asked Alex about it, why he was wearing it and why Applejack gave it to him after they woke up, he simply turned to Applejack and answered, "So I feel closer to my family, and to the one I love. That's why."

This, of course, made Applejack blush, which Fluttershy noticed before she began to tease Applejack about for a brief moment until her quiet side came back. She then turned away with a shy smile before she hugged James, giving his neck a small nuzzle.

Finally there was Ryan and Rainbow Dash, who were, as usual, talking alone. Rainbow Dash was blabbing on and on about how awesome it would be if Ryan really were a pegasus like in the dream. She went to say how cool it would be if she that could teach him to fly so they could race each other in the skies. Maybe then it would be more of a competition instead of Rainbow Dash owning him with her jet-like speed anytime they did something like a race. Besides, Rainbow Dash felt like Ryan could use the confidence gained from being able to fly at high speeds.

Ryan also listened to Rainbow Dash talk more about her love of the Wonderbolts, and how her top goal was to join them, her eyes going wide as she went all "fan-girl" and let out a little, excited squeal as she finished describing how she imagined it would be to join a group of such amazing pegasi.

Ryan responded by saying how he'd attend all of her performances to give her all of the support she needed in order to achieve her goal, and then continue that support after she did reach it, and he knew that she would.

Ryan and Rainbow Dash kissed each other again and then hugged. Rainbow Dash peered over Ryan's shoulder as they hugged and saw that Twilight and Carl were now standing in the room and she smiled.

She broke the hug and pointed her hoof behind Ryan, "Hey, Ryan look behind you."

Ryan turned around to see Carl and Twilight. He grinned, "Hey looks like the two sleeping beauties have finally woken up."

Everyone and everypony turned to see Carl and Twilight standing before them with faces that showed signs that they only recently woke up. They all got up and went over to greet the two elements of magic, their own faces smiling and excited since they all knew Discord had been defeated and everything was back to normal.

At least this is what they thought as they continued with their happy reunion.

"I can't believe we did it!" Louis laughed excitedly.

"It all was so crazy." Alex added. "I mean, after everything that happened it's a miracle that it worked out the way it did."

"I'm not disagreeing with you on any of that. Your leg looks better Louis." Carl said as he pointed at Louis' right leg, still wrapped in a white bandage. Amazingly, Louis seemed to be fine standing on it, as if it were fully healed.

"Yeah, the Princess fixed it for me, the bandage is just a precaution." He said with a small laugh before he turned to the Princess. "Thank you Your Highness, I really appreciate you healing it."

"Of course Louis, I was more than happy to help." Princess Celestia said with a warm smile.

"I also would like the thank you Princess," Rarity added, "The sight of Louis' leg was beginning to make me feel a bit woozy…no offence Louis."

"None taken."

"So what happened while Twi and I were passed out?" Carl asked, changing the topic to what was really important rather than Louis' broken leg and Rarity's apparent disgust with it.

"Well we were just talking a little bit," Fluttershy said meekly, but with a smile on her face. "Oh, and the Princess introduced us to Crescent Light."

"Crescent Light?" Twilight asked as she remembered the name, "You mean that unicorn who helped Discord and…who helped us?" She went from being angry at Crescent when she remembered what evil he did first, but she became more interested in seeing him when she remembered how he had helped them. "He's here?"

Fluttershy nodded, "Yes he is."

"Where?" Twilight asked, looking around the room to see if she could find him. Suddenly, a black hoof stuck out from behind a large potted plant that was next to a pillar.

"I'm here." The voice said. But it was a different voice than the unicorn that had met with them in City Hall. It sounded almost like it was coming from a slightly younger unicorn. Not that young, like the voice of a colt, but certainly not as old as he sounded back in Wilmont. His voice also had an unmistakable air of kindness to it, as if all of the evil that had once filled it was gone.

"Why are you hiding?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I…I was afraid of how mad you'd all be at me," Crescent muttered, "after all I did so many bad things."

"Crescent that's all in the past, I have forgiven you for it and offered you a new start." Princess Celestia said as she took a few steps forward towards the plant. She wasn't directly in front of the plant, but she was closer to it now than she had been earlier. She continued in her reassuring voice, "and part of a new start is putting your past behind you."

A few seconds later, Crescent stepped out from behind the potted plant, and he definitely looked different. Not much different, but his appearance had confirmed what his voice had hinted too earlier, that he was now back to his younger self.

Not only that, but his cutie mark was back to its original crescent moon; there was no longer a menacing pony skull over it. His eyes were no longer emotionless and hate-filled, but kind and innocent, how they had been before the day that Discord corrupted him.

In fact, he was the same age he was that fateful day in the courtyard when Discord had first made contact with him; the day he took the name "Obscure Darkness".

He was still older than Twilight, but he still looked much younger than he was back in Wilmont. He went from looking like a middle-aged unicorn to a unicorn that was in his late thirties, as humans and ponies aged at approximately the same rate.

"Hey everypony." He said quietly, looking away from the group, as if he was ashamed, which he was.

"What happened to you?" Twilight asked.

"When your elements trapped Discord, all magic he cast was eliminated." Princess Celestia explained as she walked over to the timid Crescent, who was looking away, "including the magic he used on Crescent."

She ruffled the unicorn's mane, making him blush and inch back sheepishly. His eyes still looked sad but Princess Celestia continued, "and because of Crescent's proximity to you twelve and your magic, he wasn't just released from Discord's control, he was brought back to the age he was the day Discord first spoke to him."

Crescent closed his eyes and gulped, "I'm sorry for everything I've done." He muttered before he looked up at the twelve elements with apologetic eyes, "I know I don't deserve anypony's forgiveness, nor do I ask for it. But I just want to let you know I am truly sorry for the pain my actions have caused."

He looked up at Princess Celestia and nodded, "Thanks for sparing me. I'll just get going now and leave you alone."

Crescent turned and started to walk away when Pinkie Pie, who had jumped about fifty feet in the air, as if her hooves were made of springs, stopped him and she landed in front of Crescent with a grin on her face. Crescent stopped and looked at Pinkie with confusion on his face before she quickly pulled him into an extremely tight bear hug that made Crescent feel like he was suffocating, his eyes bulging slightly, before she loosened her embrace so he could get air.

Once he got his wind back, Crescent became even more stunned by the pink mare's sudden embrace of him after everything he did. But he didn't complain; he simply hugged Pinkie Pie back as she spoke kindly to him, "Oh we couldn't stay mad at anypony who apologizes sincerely, no matter how much pain they've caused! Especially when that big, mean Discord was responsible for it. I mean, he made my friends and I jerks, and I never wanted to be a jerk and neither did they!"

She broke the hug and looked at Crescent, who just looked back at her; tears were forming in his eyes when he suddenly saw a bright, purple flash from behind him. He turned to see Twilight, who had teleported behind him, glaring at him with the upmost seriousness, "You're the one who killed my uncle, aren't you?"

Crescent looked down and nodded, "I'm sorry Twilight…I…I'm so sorry."

Twilight nodded, "I know you are." He looked back up at her as she placed a reassuring hoof onto shoulder, "I'm not Applejack and honesty isn't my specialty, but when I look into your eyes I know you're being truthful about your apologies. Besides, it's not like you were completely yourself, after all Discord manipulated you."

Crescent nodded, "I still shouldn't have given him that chance, it was my envy that…"

"Everypony has envy," Twilight said quickly, interrupting Crescent, "and the only reason you acted on it was because Discord made you. It happened with us when Discord changed our attitudes and personalities. It's not your fault that you had a moment of weakness that he capitalized on; it's what he does. He is the God of Chaos after all."

Crescent nodded and gave Twilight a small, thankful smile, "Thanks Twilight." She nodded to him and led him back to the others.

But now other questions were arising.

"What happens on Earth now?" Ryan asked Princess Celestia, "Wilmont? What about all of the anarchists do they go back to normal because Discord's power over them wore off or something?"

Princess Celestia let out a sigh, "Not exactly."

"Then what's going to happen?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I mean, we beat Discord so things should go back to normal, right? No more chaos or war or death from his cronies?"

Princess Celestia shook her head, "The anarchists and remaining unicorn and pegasus army that fought for Discord will continue to fight a losing battle against the armies on Earth and group of unicorns that I sent down there." She then turned to Ryan and pointed at him, "I believe you met one of them at the hospital, am I right Ryan?"

Ryan nodded as he remembered the doctor that turned out to be a unicorn in disguise as a human. How he mentioned that "you have more allies than you think", or something along those lines, before leaving Rainbow Dash and Ryan alone in the hospital room so that Ryan could let his emotions pour out and get comfort from Rainbow Dash after his parents were killed.

"There have been a great number of unicorns on Earth, waiting for you to defeat Discord so they could finish off those who still fought in his name. They couldn't help you because only you twelve had the power to defeat Discord. If they fought earlier, their identities would have been compromised, and they would have lost to Discord, and the anarchists would have more of an upper hand right now. Since he is defeated, they will join the human armies in ending the rise of anarchy. It won't take much longer to beat them, but there will still be some bloodshed."

"But didn't the spell Discord put on them wear off?" Twilight asked before looking down at Crescent, "I mean, Crescent is back to normal, shouldn't they be?"

"The unicorns and pegasi who still fight joined Discord at their own free will, not by Discord's magic." Princess Celestia said before she continued, "the anarchists that were only fighting because of Discord's manipulation have returned to their normal selves. But still, many of them joined Discord willingly and they will continue to fight until the last one is killed. Your city's economy was bad and they bought into Discord's messages as mayor, and now they will fight in his name until the last of them is brought down."

"So after everything we've done, after everything we've done, chaos still runs amok and there will still be fighting after we defeated Discord?" Pete said with a hint of aggravation and anger, which reflected the mood of most of the boys in the room, especially Ryan, who lost the most.

"But here in Equestria everything returned ta normal after Discord was defeated." Applejack commented.

" Right, here in _Equestria_, in our world. Chaos will always run amok in their world." Princess Celestia said to Applejack before she turned to the boys, "Our world can eliminate evil when it shows itself and can have long periods of peace. But your world will never rid itself of evil; it's just how your reality differs from ours. Even when the anarchists are defeated, your world will be in the same chaos it was in before Discord caused everything that he did"

Princess Celestia then turned to Twilight, "Twilight, I'm sure your experiences in their reality have shown you the differences between the two."

Twilight slowly nodded as she remembered the Latin chants that echoed through the night, the chants that had given her such terror. She remembered the orange tint to the night sky as the city burned, the light from fire creeping into her jail cell through the barred windows and landing across the floor on her violet body as she trembled in fear.

Rainbow Dash remembered watching as Ryan's parents, two of the kindest people that she'd ever met, were murdered in front of her by a group of angry teenagers with guns and bandanas. She remembered the searing pain from the rock that broke her wings. She remembered the sight of Lawrence's knife, ready to cut into her abdomen and kill her, until Ryan saved her and broke his once best friend's back.

Fluttershy remembered Brett, who was now the innocent Crescent Light, approaching her to kill her when James stopped him, snitching on the others to spare her life. She remembered the sounds of James' screams entering her jail cell, as he was tortured while strapped to the interrogation chair, magic coursing through his veins as he screamed, struggled and spat blood all over the floor. Blood that Fluttershy saw dripping from his nose and mouth when she was brought into the interrogation room.

Applejack remembered Alex being strangled by his stepfather, and how his mother cared more about him than her son. How she ran to her husband's side when Applejack bucked him after ignoring her son's pleas for help. She remembered watching as the usually stoic Alex broke down in tears at the sight of the giant wave of alcohol with his stepfather's face in it.

Rarity remembered the dust cloud from the collapsed building as Louis drove through the city. She remembered the sight of the anarchist about to throw the Molotov cocktail at them until Louis rammed him with his car. She also remembered the same anarchist burning alive with one of his comrades after his Molotov cocktail had shattered on the ground, and the fires consumed them both. She shuddered at such horrible memories; they were memories that she'd never forget.

Pinkie Pie remembered the sight of the chaos in the city as well. She remembered choking on the ash as she sang, and then opening her eyes to the battle that she was in the middle of. She also remembered Pete's parents disowning him in the cruelest way possible. She remembered his tear-filled eyes. She remembered how even she couldn't cheer him up easily.

All of these memories filled the girls' head, they realized what Princess Celestia was saying was true. That their reality was different form ours, and how good didn't always win in our world, and how evil and terrifying things could get in comparison with the "evil" in Equestria. And if good did manage to get lucky and win, there was almost as much damage and tragedy on the winning side as there was on the losing side.

"The anarchists will soon lose, but your world will still be chaos." Princess Celestia concluded, "and nothing will ever change that. And what you six boys lost wasn't part of any prophecy, it's just how things tend to work out in your universe. You lose a lot in the pursuit to defeat evil."

There was a long silence as everypony and everyone let that sink in. The guys weren't too surprised, after all being surrounded by news story after news story about soldiers dying in a storm of gunfire in the Middle East, dictators, murderers, rapists, and other horrible people and events throughout their short lives on Earth, the idea of a world where complete and utter peace was never able to be reached seemed logical.

The girls, however, were downright depressed after hearing such things. Throughout their lives, they all lived in a world where good was rewarded and always triumphed over evil, and peace was definitely attainable. While their journey to the boy's reality made them realize the horrors that it had, they all secretly thought that Discord's defeat might bring peace, or that chaos could be stopped.

Hearing from their own Goddess that their reality was in a constant state of chaos, where evil often triumphed, where good people were more often punished for being good and bad people were rewarded for being scumbags, only made their hearts break.

Eventually Princess Celestia broke the silence and concluded her point, "But that doesn't mean I want you six boys to have lives of chaos."

All of the boys in the room looked up in confusion about what Princess Celestia said.

"What do you mean?" Carl asked.

"I have some things to show you, but first I need to ask you a question that I know has been on each of your minds for the past few days," she said, "do you want to go back to Earth to live out your lives, or do you want to stay in here Equestria with your partners?"

The boys all looked at her with confusion, "Wha…what…we have a choice?" Alex asked with a slightly excited tone as the idea of staying with Applejack made his mood skyrocket into complete happiness.

Princess Celestia gave a small smile in response, "Yes, Alex. Unlike what many fan-fictions in your world seem to say, I do not hate humanity. I believe you do what you can in a reality that can never be completely stable, and fosters chaos." She said, "and I most certainly do not want to force you and the girls to separate after everything that you've been through together. I'm not as heartless as that writer of "My Little Dashie" made me out to be. The six of you should be safe enough to allow to stay without breaking the fabric of space and time."

The guys all looked at each other with shock and some relief, as they now knew their destiny was in their hands, and not Celestia's, they could make up their own mind. Before any of them could respond, the Princess continued to speak.

"From what I've seen, I believe Pete and Ryan have their minds made up already."

They all turned to Ryan and Pete, both of whom had the least to live for on Earth, and by least I mean _NOTHING_. Both boys nodded before turning to their partners with the largest smiles that they could muster on their faces. They had such joy at the news that they could stay with their partners instead of being separated, as was the case with so many fan-fictions and stories.

"Ryan you're staying?" Rainbow Dash asked excitedly, as she didn't know what Celestia would do either until that point.

Ryan nodded with great enthusiasm. "You think I would leave you Dashie?"

Rainbow Dash didn't hesitate to tackle him to the floor before giving him such a tight hug that Ryan felt like his rib cage was going to break. She began to laugh happily into Ryan's chest and he swore that he could feel tears landing on his shirt; that the incredibly tough Rainbow Dash was crying into his torso as she embraced him warmly. He could have brought attention to it, but that would have killed the mood and he simply hugged her back and kissed the top of her head as tears began to form in his own eyes.

His own wish had mostly come true, except that he could no longer speak to his parents. His heart still wished he could speak to them at least one more time to tell them how much he loved them and give them the thanks they deserved for raising him in such a loving home.

"And I want to stay with you Pinkie." Pete said with a big grin, a grin that the formerly shy boy never had.

"Really?" Pinkie Pie asked

"Really."

"Forever?"

"Forever."

"Yay!" she shouted excitedly before bouncing around Pete, "Petey's gonna stay with me! Petey's gonna stay with me!"

She eventually hopped into his embrace and hugged him with even more force than Rainbow Dash, causing Pete to struggle for air before she noticed this and loosened her grip, "Sorry Pete, I sort of got excited, but YOU'RE STAYING WITH ME! THIS IS SOOOO GREAT!"

As the others watched this, Princess Celestia turned to the other four, "now I know you four have had a harder time deciding what to do…"

"I'm staying." Alex answered in haste, which surprised the Princess, "I don't want to leave Applejack; I love her too much."

"I'm staying too." James said. "Fluttershy trumps my asshole parents and brother any day of the week, and if I left her I'd never be able to find a girl as good as her."

Both Fluttershy and Applejack grinned at the news, and ran over to hug them. Fluttershy did so more gently, but Applejack didn't hold anything back and brought Alex down like a sack o bricks before kissing him right on the lips.

Now only Louis and Carl were left, both of whom looked at their partners with expressions that showed inner turmoil.

Both of them had the most to lose by choosing a life in Equestria. Louis would lose the fame he gained from soccer, and the best chance he'd have to bring pride to his family name, but if he did stay in Equestria, he'd have a job as a clothing designer and painter, and he'd be with Rarity; his beautiful partner. Louis knew his guardians would support his choice, but they were still like his parents in many ways, and he couldn't just leave them.

Louis knew that if he didn't have to leave his aunt and uncle, he wouldn't hesitate to be with Rarity. Hell, he'd give up his soccer for her. Regardless, the decision had him torn. It was like when he had to pick between accepting an offer from North Carolina or UCLA, which were both schools that he loved and wanted to go to. Much like this decision, however, only one could be chosen, and if he could keep in touch with his Aunt and Uncle, he felt like he could choose Rarity without too much guilt.

Carl had by far the most to lose. He had his mother and two sisters, all of who he'd been like a father figure for since his dad passed away. How would they react? Would they be fine without him? Not only that, but he loved them all so much, and he didn't want to leave them forever. But he also didn't want to leave Twilight forever, and he knew if he went back to Earth he would go on through life single and alone, as no other girl could ever get his attention after he was so close to being with Twilight. A kind, smart, funny, cute girl that no one on Earth would come close to matching in Carl's mind.

Rarity and Twilight both understood their partner's predicaments, but both secretly wanted them to stay in Equestria so they could be together. In order to try and avoid pushing them one way or the other, they said the only things that they could.

"Louis, I just want to let you know I support whatever decision you make." Rarity said while holding back tears, "I just want you to be happy."

"Same with me Carl," Twilight responded as she stepped forward, leaving Crescent all alone again, "I understand you have a great family back home that needs you. Whatever choice you make, I'm behind you one-hundred percent."

Carl and Louis looked at each other when Ryan piped up when he thought of something, "Princess Celestia! Wait I have a question."

She turned to Ryan, as he stood up from the floor, recovering from Rainbow Dash's tackle, "Do you have a way for them to communicate with their loved ones? Because in my dream I had a device that allowed me to talk to my parents and I remember reading a story called "My Second Life" where Twilight had a mirror to allow inter-dimensional communication. Do you have anything like that for Louis and Carl?"

Princess Celestia nodded, "Of course, it's not like you'd never, _ever_ talk with your loved ones again. I have many different means of communicating with your world. I could even teleport you there occasionally if you'd like. Not every day or week, but once or twice a year."

This was all Carl and Louis needed to hear before they both nodded.

"I want to stay here." Louis said

"Me too." Carl added.

Both Twilight and Rarity were now grinning and ran over to them and threw their hooves around their partners. Twilight was all smiles as she nuzzled Carl and Rarity was letting out joyful, if not a bit exaggerated, tears.

As they hugged, Carl looked up at Princess Celestia, "Your Highness, can you send me back with Twilight so I can see my family to tell them what I'm doing, and make sure they're all right with it? It wouldn't feel right to just leave them behind without seeing them one more time."

Princess Celestia nodded, "Yes, in fact I was planning to send you, Louis, Alex and James back regardless. All of your parents are now unfrozen and it would be best for you to say good-bye. Plus, Twilight needs to go with you so she can bring a certain baby dragon back here."

Twilight suddenly jumped back and pointed at Carl, "Oh my gosh that's right, Spike is with your family, I completely forgot about that."

"Oh yeah. He-he, I guess all of that worked out then." Carl said with a sad chuckle, still not looking forward to giving them the news of his departure.

"Now, I'll teleport you four back and when you want to return, just think about coming back here and you boys will be able to teleport yourselves and your partner. Once you return, however, your magic will reduce drastically, except for Carl that is."

"Wait, the others won't much magic anymore but I will? Why not?" Carl asked

"I'll explain when you get back," They all nodded before the Princess pointed to an area of the room in front of her, "Now, all of you get together with your partners. Ryan and Pete, do you two need to go back for anything or you all set?"

Ryan and Pete shook their heads as they stayed behind the Princess with Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash.

Pinkie Pie was still hugging Pete closely as she stood on her hind-legs, and Rainbow Dash was leaning against Ryan's leg and giving him the occasional, affectionate rub with her head, earning an ear-scratch from Ryan, which felt amazing to her.

Princess Celestia turned back to the other eight, who had gotten into position, ready to be teleported back to Earth one last time, "Remember, think about coming back here and you'll be able to get back."

Carl suddenly thought of something, "Wait! Princess Celestia! Can I bring my family here to stay…or is that too unsafe?"

Princess Celestia shook her head, "No, so far I'm only allowing you six to stay because you've formed such a bond with your partners and that the magic you possess, no matter how little, will allow you to stay here without ruining either reality. Not to mention your presence would help the second Discord from your reality stay in stone. I brought him here soon after you defeated him, and if all twelve of you elements stay, he'll stay trapped in the courtyard with the other Discord. I will continue to find a way to bring your

That was the last thing before there was a sudden white flash and a "popping" noise. The eight elements that were in front of Princess Celestia were now gone, back to Earth to say their goodbyes.

As they left, Princess Celestia turned to Ryan, "As for you Ryan, there are some very special people who would like to see you."

Ryan just looked at her in confusion when he felt somepony tugging on his pant's leg with their teeth. He looked down to see Rainbow Dash pointing behind him with a shocked expression on her face. He turned around to see, standing behind him with smile on their faces, both of his parents.

His jaw dropped and his eyes went wide as he took a cautious step forward. When he was sure that he wasn't hallucinating, he sprinted over to them and hugged them, only to realize that his arms went through them. He stepped back and realized they were transparent, as if they were ghosts. This could have upset him, but just seeing his parents in front of him made him smile, no matter how solid or ghost-like they were.

Rainbow Dash grinned and slowly trotted over to join Ryan.

"Good to see you again son." His father said with a happy voice.

"You too…" Ryan said as he looked up at his parents with tears in his eyes, "but…how?"

"I brought them here." Princess Celestia said, "I was able to convince your God to send them down from heaven for a short time so you could give each other a proper good-bye."

Ryan smiled at her, "That's so nice…thank you Princess Celestia."

He turned back to his parents, who looked down at Rainbow Dash, who was looking back up at them.

"Nice to see you two again." Rainbow Dash said with a small chuckle.

"Likewise," Ryan's mother said before turning to Ryan, "So how is the happy couple?"

Ryan was about to answer when he stopped. He just stared at his mother in shock, "You…you knew?"

Both of his parents nodded, "Yes Ryan, we did. Rainbow Dash told us when you left to go find Carl. She didn't want you to burden yourself with it so she confessed everything."

Ryan looked down at Rainbow Dash, whose eyes were closed as she shook her head, "Ryan, please don't me mad at me I…"

She stopped when Ryan stuck his hand out at her to silence her before giving her a kind smile, "Don't apologize Dashie…I'm happy you did it."

Rainbow Dash looked up at Ryan and smiled back at him before he turned to his parents, "I seriously can't believe you guys are all right with it."

Ryan' father put his hand above his son's shoulder so that it didn't faze through, "Ryan we want you to be happy, and we know you'll be happy with Rainbow Dash. She's a great girl, regardless of your differences."

Ryan looked from his mother to his father before shaking his head in a happy disbelief, "I love you guys."

They all gave each other "air hugs", so that Ryan's arms didn't pass through his parents, and it was still close to an embrace. Ryan's mother looked down at Rainbow Dash, who was just watching the scene with happy eyes. "Rainbow Dash you can join us in this hug."

Rainbow Dash didn't waste any time before leaping into the air and flapping onto the mass and wrapping her hooves around the group as best she could without having them go through Ryan's parents and shouted happily, "Most awesome family EVER!"

They all laughed before they stepped back and continued to talk a little more while they still had time.

As this was going on, Pete and Pinkie Pie watched with happy faces. Pete longed to hug his parents like Ryan was, but he knew that could never happen so he decided to turn away from the scene and talk to Pinkie Pie, who was already running down a list of party supplies for the "victory party" she still planned to throw the group once they arrived in Ponyville. Not to mention she now had a plan to throw the entire group of boys a "welcome to Ponyville" party with the entire town, something that she was well known for doing, and a party to celebrate Pete getting to stay with her, but that would be for only her and Pete, and it would be more of a dinner date. So with three parties to plan, Pinkie Pie was in heaven.

Also in the room was Crescent, who pawed at the ground nervously as he heard the joyful reunion of Ryan and his parents, who were killed by the anarchists who worked for him and Discord. He suddenly felt his guilt coming back to him when he felt somepony tap him on the shoulder. He turned to see Princess Celestia looking down at him with a smile.

"Crescent, there's somepony I want you to see as well."

**Carl's Uncle's House**

Spike, Lisa and Anna were all in bed, talking to one another about Carl and the others. It was very early in the morning, six 'clock to be precise, and Lauren and Carl's Uncle Damien were in their own rooms. Well, Lauren was technically in the other guest room, but it was her room until she returned to Wilmont.

Also, while Uncle Damien was asleep, Lauren was lying in bed and staring up at the ceiling, her mind still on Carl.

Lisa, Spike and Anna were supposed to be asleep but, like their mother, they were finding it difficult to do so with everything that was going on around them. Spike kept worrying about Twilight while Lisa and Anna worried about their brother, something that Lisa never thought she'd do. After all, she fought with him to often it was like they were enemies instead of family.

"When's Twilight supposed to come get you?" Anna asked and Spike shrugged.

"I dunno, when they defeat discord I guess."

"When will that be?" Lisa asked.

Spike shrugged, "It could be days, or weeks, or…"

As if on cue, there was a great white flash followed by a loud popping noise. Spike and the girls all turned to the door of the room, listening as they heard two voices, both of which were recognizable as being the voices of Carl and Twilight.

"…now. Speaking of which." Spike said with a grin spreading across his face as he leapt to the floor and ran to the door that led to the hallway. Lisa and Anna were right on his heels.

They all ran into the hallway to be greeted by the welcome sight of Carl and Twilight, both of whom were grinning at the sight of the two girls and the baby dragon running over to greet them. In a matter of moments, all five of them were in a great, big hug, Carl's sisters and Spike shouting in joy, not caring how loud they were being. Soon, the commotion had woken both Uncle Damien and Lauren.

"What in tarnation is going on out here?" Uncle Damien asked, still uneasy about cartoon characters being in his house, as he just barely got over the idea of Spike being there. "Dear lord first the dragon now I got a cartoon pony in here? What's next, a griffon or something."

"Actually, Griffons exist where I come from." Twilight said, which made Uncle Damien just stare blankly for a moment as Twilight gave him a big, cheesy grin.

He groaned, "I need a drink."

"You do that." Laruen rolled her eyes as Uncle Damien walked down the stairs to his liquor cabinet to drown his sorrows and confusion in alcoholic delight.

Lauren walked over to Carl, who just looked up at her for a moment before she shrugged, "Is it over?"

"Did you beat Discord?" Anna asked excitedly, in a way only a girl as young as her could.

"Discord's defeated." Carl answered. "But it's not over."

"What do you mean?" Lauren asked.

Carl and Twilight exchanged glances before Carl turned back to his mom, "We need to talk about something…and I'm not sure how you're going to take it."

**Alex's House**

Alex's mother sat on the couch with Alex standing directly in front of her. He had just told her that he was going to live with Applejack in Equestria, and she was just stunned.

Behind him, Applejack was standing by his stepfather, her green eyes staring daggers into his own, as he looked down at the mare with a fearful expression. Even through he was still a little hung-over, as he was hung-over when he was frozen by the spell, he didn't forget how this pony had bucked him into the alcohol shelf and knocked him out cold.

Alex's mother just shook her head in disbelief, "I…why…why are you doing this Alex?"

"Because I found a place where I can truly be happy." Alex answered, "with the one I love, and I don't ever want any other girl besides her."

"Honey I…I don't want you to…" she started only to have Alex interrupt her.

"Mom, you and I know that's a load of shit." He muttered with pure venom in his voice, tired of holding back the rage he felt for his mother, "I know you care about Mark more than you care about me, otherwise you would help me out when he beat the life out of me. But you don't, I defend you with my Goddamned life and you never give me anything in return other than neglect."

Alex's mother looked away from Alex and, just then, he saw something he'd never thought he'd se.

His mother was sobbing like a baby.

"Hey you leave her alone!" Alex's stepfather shouted only to have Applejack jump in his way and stare him down.

"Ya ain't goin' anywhere; stay put." She hissed, causing the hung-over man to step back with a scared look in his eyes that made Applejack smile in success before she turned to look at Alex as he walked over to his mother and put his hand onto her shoulder.

"Mom?" Alex asked.

She nodded, "You're right, Alex. You're right, I'm so sorry for everything." She continued to cry into Alex's shirt. "I just…I don't want to betray two of my husbands in one life…I've always felt guilty about your father and how I treated him I…I guess I carried that over with Mark…and it wound up hurting you…I'm so sorry Alex."

Alex nodded and hugged her back. He turned to Applejack and pointed to his stepfather, "Applejack, make the drunken jerk leave."

She nodded before turning her attention back to the freaked-out stepfather and took a few, threatening steps towards him, her green eyes meeting his, "All right, ya never come back to this here home. If Alex or ah hear about ya beating his mother or even coming back here, ah'll make sure ta buck you so hard in the face yer head fly clean off yer head, do ya understand?" He nodded fervently before Applejack pointed to the door and commanded him like a dog, "Then get."

He wasted no time in sprinting from the house and going to his car; leaving forever. Alex expected his mother to go after him, to beg him not to leave, but she didn't, she just watched him go. It was like this was the first time she wasn't in denial about her husband. She simply looked up at Alex.

Alex just looked down at her as she continued, "You…you can go. Go live your life with the one you love and don't look back."

Alex nodded, but he felt his heart sinking at the sight of his mother, "What about you?"

She gave Alex a weak smile, "I'll be fine, trust me. Don't throw your one true chance of happiness away just because I did."

Applejack walked over to Alex's mother before speaking, "Alex and ah will keep in touch with ya."

"And someday maybe you can come with us." Alex added, remembering what the Princess had told them about trying to find a way to allow their loved ones to live with them.

But Alex's mom shook her head. "Thank you but…I don't deserve it after how I treated you…and your father."

"Alex's mom, if I may?" Applejack asked as she took another step forward.

"Ashleigh."

"What now?"

"My name is Ashleigh, you can call me that if you'd like." Alex's mother said with a small smile. "Seems weird to call me Alex's mom when you're dating my son."

"Ashleigh, ah ain't sayin' y'all didn't make mistakes, but ya ain't a bad person." She said with a small smile as she placed her hoof onto Ashleigh's shoulder, "after all, a bad person couldn't have raised a son ta turn out as amazin' as Alex did."

This seemed to make Ashleigh feel better and she laughed a little bit, "Yeah he…he is amazing, too amazing for me. Watch over him Applejack."

Applejack tipped her hat to Ashleigh and winked "Will do ma'am."

She then turned and trotted back as Alex bent over and hugged Ashleigh, "I love you Mom."

Ashleigh began to silently cry into her son's hair, "I love you too Alex, and I'm sorry for everything I've done."

"Don't…don't worry about it."

Suddenly Alex felt guilty that he had made up his mind so easily about staying with Applejack and leaving his mother. He now realized that his mother did love him, she just had a lot of issues to deal with. He didn't want to leave her, but he didn't want to leave Applejack either, and in the end he decided to do what his mother wanted and move to Equestria with the mare he loved.

"I promise you I'll talk to you often." Alex said, hoping that the Princess really did have a way for him to stay in touch with his mother, "I promise I will."

With that, Alex broke the hug and walked back to join Applejack in the middle of the room. He smiled one last time at his mother and closed his eyes, thinking about returning to the Princess' Castle. Applejack did the same and, suddenly, there was a loud "popping" noise and they were both gone. Ashleigh just stared at the empty space for a few moments as the realization that her son was gone hit her.

She was about to cry when she remembered something, "He's going to a better place," she muttered to herself as a single tear rolled down her cheek, "Alex you'll finally be happy."

And with that, she vowed to herself she'd improve her own life for Alex's sake, and hope when they saw each other again, she'd be a better person.

**Louis' Aunt and Uncle's Hotel in California (where they were vacationing)**

Once Louis told his Aunt and Uncle the news, they both accepted it quite well. They ere both emotional but they also understood his choice and wanted him to be happy. Rarity stood by Louis the entire time with excitement in her crystal, blue eyes.

"So you're cool with it?" Louis asked. Both his aunt and uncle nodded.

"LWhen we took you in after your parents died we vowed to raise you as if we were them, as if you were our son. We made a vow the day you moved in to make our decisions based on what your parents would do." Louis' uncle said, "and we knew they'd want you to be happy, and you're clearly happy with this girl."

"And it seems like you're happy with this girl…err…pony." Louis' aunt said as she pointed to Rarity, who just blushed.

"Oh you flatter me too much Mr. and Mrs. Clarkson." Rarity chuckled, "but I do appreciate the compliments."

They all had a quick group hug, Louis giving both his aunt and uncle thanks for raising him as if her were their son, before he and Rarity went over to stand in the living room.

Suddenly, Louis' Aunt held her hand out, "Wait! Louis what about your scholarship? Should we tell North Carolina you're no longer interested?"

Louis just smiled, "Tell him I'm off to follow my dream, not wear prissy, powdered blue uniforms."

"Now Louis, powdered blue is quite an exquisite color." Rarity said with a smile, "besides, you looked rather ravishing in that shirt."

"When we first met?"

Rarity nodded, "Indeed."

"Everything boils down to fashion with you, doesn't it?"

"You'd be surprised how much you learn from somepony just based on what they wear."

"Must be tough when most ponies usually wear nothing." Louis said with a chuckle.

"Trust me, when they do wear dresses it becomes crystal clear what kind of pony they are."

They looked at each other and waved to Louis' Aunt and Uncle, who returned the gesture. Both Louis and Rarity closed their eyes then were gone.

**James' House**

"I don't care what you say, I'm going." James hissed as he argued with his parents about running off with Fluttershy.

Couldn't expect all of them to be all right with the news, especially James' horrible parents.

"We forbid it." James' father hissed as Patrick stood beside him with his arms crossed. Apparently, they didn't care about his pot and even tried to find a way to justify it so it "wasn't his fault". That "he was stressed out from all of the pressure he had on him to excel and get into Stanford", and all James heard was "blah, blah, blah Patrick can do no wrong in our eyes, he is our God."

"Well I don't care." James hissed as he put his arm around Fluttershy and kissed her head. She didn't look shy at all now. She wasn't timid or skittish in the eyes of her coltfriend's family; her eyes were like daggers as they stared at them. She was angry as she was in James' dream, if not angrier, at this moment.

"Why are you doing this?" James' mother asked, "why are you so adamant in leaving your family behind?"

James was about to answer when Fluttershy stepped forward, "You want to know why? Because you three meanies always put James down."

"What are you talking about, what lies are you feeding our son!" James' father shouted.

"Lies? I haven't been lying to your son, you have." Fluttershy hissed as she started to storm forward, slowly but surly inching closer to James' family, who all started to look worried. "You have been saying how you care about him when all you do is put him down and treat him like he is so much less than your other son here."

She shot Patrick an angry look, which made him jump back in fear, his back now pressed against the wall, making him feel like he was trapped in a cage with a wild animal.

James didn't do anything but stand there with a grin on his face, enjoying the fact that Fluttershy was no longer holding back and was just launching the tirade against his family that they so richly deserved.

Eventually, Patrick couldn't take anymore of the fear and passed out onto the floor, a sight that forced James to cover his mouth as he began to crack up.

Meanwhile, James' parents just watched helplessly as Fluttershy leaned closer and gave them the "stare"; this act of terror made James' parents hold each other and scream before Fluttershy concluded her rant, "And you will let him move to Equestria will me and be happy for once. Now, do I need to repeat myself or did I get the message through your thick skulls?"

Both of James' parents nodded before they too passed out onto the kitchen table. Fluttershy normally would have let out a timid squeak and would have felt bad for making them go unconscious from fright, but in this case she smiled smugly at them and turned away, trotting back to James, who was clapping,

"Well done Fluttershy."

"Thanks." She said with a massive blush, "I hope I wasn't too upfront, for your sake. Not theirs, I could care less about them."

"Neither do I." James laughed before motioning her to walk over to his side so they could teleport back to the castle.

**Uncle Damien's House**

Uncle Damien sat in his armchair, eyes closed and a loud snore coming from his partially opened lips as the others were in the kitchen. Carl was finishing his case for why he wanted to move to Equestria with Twilight instead of staying on Earth with his family. He told Lauren and his sisters how he'd still be in touch with them, but he wouldn't be living in their world anymore.

Lauren just stared down at her hands, trying to hide the fact that she felt like she was on the brink of tears.

"Mom I…are you all right?" Carl asked.

Lauren didn't respond immediately, but eventually she nodded. She looked up at Carl, her eyes filled with tears, "Yes…Carl it…" she could only get out that much before she let her head fall into her hands and she began to bawl. Both Twilight and Carl stood up and went over to her side to help her feel better about the news, and Carl started to feel like a complete jerk.

Lisa and Anna just watched, their eyes open wide and showing their own sadness. Spike was also emotional, and tears began to roll down his cheeks. Obviously he would be seeing Carl a lot, and he knew that he was going back with Twilight and leaving Carl's sisters, both of whom he had become good friends with, but the sight of the boy telling his mother such a terrible thing was depressing. It wasn't like it was his fault, but just the scene of a son saying goodbye to his mother before going to live in a different dimension was disheartening.

"Mom I…"

"Carl listen to me," Lauren said as she looked up into Carl's eyes, her tear-filled, red eyes breaking her son's heart to see. The knowledge that he was causing her pain was ripping him apart and made him second-guess his decision. That is, however, until his mother continued to speak, "I am sad that I'll never see you regularly again…but I want you to be happy…I want you to go with Twilight."

"B-But you seem so sad about it."

"I am sad Carl, my only son is moving to another world." Lauren said as she wiped some tears away from her eyes and cleared her throat so she could continue speaking.

"But I lost your father before we had a chance to get back together again," she said sadly, "I don't want you to lose the one you loved like I did. And Twilight is such a great girl; I know you'll never be as happy with anyone else as you are with her. You share true love, and that's rare to find in this world."

Carl couldn't hold back his own emotions anymore and he fell into his mother's embrace and began to cry more. Twilight and the other could only watch as their own tears began to flow at the sight. Eventually, Carl and Lauren broke their hug and looked at each other sadly.

"I love you mom."

"I love you too Carl."

Carl turned to Lisa and Anna, who just looked up at him in shock.

"I'm sorry you guys." He muttered before they both ran over and hugged him. Now, he expected this reaction from Anna, as she was always the very kind and quiet one, but he was stunned when mischievous Lisa also ran over to him and hugged him tightly, crying into his torso.

"I'm sorry I was such a bad sister." Lisa wailed.

"Lisa what are you talking about, you've been a great sister."

"But I always got you in trouble on purpose and…and…done mean things to you. Please don't leave just because of me."

"I'm not Lisa, I'm not leaving because of you," Carl said as he wiped some of his tears, "actually it's you three that make this choice so difficult. Because I don't want to say good-bye, but I also don't want to leave Twilight, but this isn't good-bye. I'll still see you, and someday the Princess will hopefully find a way for you to come to Equestria. But until then I'll stay in touch with you and I'll visit you, I won't leave you three without ever talking to you again, I swear."

They continued to hug each other for a few more minutes before Carl, Spike and Twilight walked to the center of the kitchen so they could head back to the castle. Carl looked down at Twilight, "Ready?"

She nodded before looking at Spike, who was not looking at her, trying everything in his power to hide the tears that he was shedding. The three of them all waved to Carl's family, who sadly waved back before they shut their eyes and, moments later, disappeared.

Lisa and Anna hugged each other and kept staring at the spot on the floor where their brother had stood only moments before, and Lauren did the same from where she was sitting. Tears still welled up in her eyes and she gave a small smile.

Anna turned to Lauren and asked, "Mom are you all right?"

Lauren looked at her daughter and nodded, "Yes...yes I am."

"But you're crying."

"I'm just responding like any other mother does when they have to let their son go," she said sadly, "whether its off to college or a world filled with cartoon ponies."

Anna nodded and turned back to looking at the spot where the three beings teleported back to Equestria from, while Lauren wiped her eyes and let out a sigh, _"Thank you for everything that you've done to help this family Carl."_

**Princess Celestia's Castle**

Once Carl Twilight and Spike returned to the castle, they saw that everyone and everypony else were already there, waiting for them to return. Ryan and Rainbow Dash were still with Ryan's parents, talking it up while Princess Celestia's spell was still in effect.

Alex felt guilty about leaving his mother, but when the Princess promised that he could keep in touch with her often and visit her he felt better. He and Applejack then went into a discussion on Applejack's family. He listened while she discussed Applebloom, Big Mac and Granny Smith in exuberant detail, and Alex just listened with a smile on his face.

Everyone and everypony else were watching something off in the distance.

"What's everypony looking at?" Twilight asked, as she squinted to get a better view, only to realize their bodies hid whatever they were looking at.

"I'll check." Spike said before he ran off to the others.

Twilight looked up at Carl, who still looked depressed.

"Carl, are you all right?"

Carl nodded, "Twi, do you…do you think I made the right decision? Do you think I should have left my family like that?"

Twilight didn't know what to say, after all she couldn't say "yes, it was a good idea to abandon your family", but she also didn't want to say "you're selfish, you should have stayed", which wouldn't have only been disheartening for Carl, but a complete lie to Twilight. After all, she wanted to be with Carl forever, and was thrilled that he was going to live with her and Spike, but she also felt bad that it meant leaving his family behind.

So she did all she could, which was rub her head against Carl's leg lovingly.

"Twilight!" Spike shouted. Twilight and Carl looked up to see him sprinting over to them while pointing with fervor behind him, "Get over here, quick!"

Twilight wasted no time in running over to the group, Carl right on her hooves as he followed her to see what the group was looking at.

"Spike what…" Twilight began before she stopped moving and just stared at what was before her.

Everyone and everypony was staring at two ponies. One was Crescent, but the other was a larger unicorn with a blue coat that, like Crescent, looked younger than he was the last time anyone or anypony had seen him. Like Ryan's parents, he looked slightly transparent, as if he weren't completely there, but was instead an apparition. Twilight immediately recognized him, as did Carl.

"Uncle Bright?" Twilight asked in shock, a smile growing on her face.

Bright illusion looked at Twilight and smiled, "Well, well. Twilight how's my favorite niece been?"

Twilight wasted no time in running over to him, "I thought you were…" she then wrapped her hooves around Bright, only to have them go right through him. She froze and stepped back, a sad look in her eyes. Bright sighed and noticed that Crescent was turned away, hiding the tears that he was shedding for killing his best friend.

"I am dead, Twilight." Twilight looked down and gave a small nod. Bright turned to Crescent, "and Crescent, stop looking so down. I already told you, Obscure Darkness killed me, not you, and I don't blame you."

"But I was Obscure." Crescent whimpered, only to have Bright his hoof onto Crescent's shoulder, stopping it in mid-air so it didn't passed through his friend.

"You aren't that monster. Discord is Obscure, you're only Crescent."

Crescent nodded before turning to look at Bright, "I am so sorry again I…"

Bright stuck his hoof out to silence Crescent and he gave his best friend a reassuring smile, "It's okay, Crescent."

Crescent nodded and gave his friend, the one he had killed in front of a church only a few days before, a small, thankful smile.

Carl walked up next and talked with Bright, who went on asking Carl if he was taking care of Twilight, and how their relationship was going. When Carl told Bright how he was moving to Ponyville with Twilight, his eyes grew in joy and he jumped into the air before landing. Even though he was a slightly transparent version of himself, Bright sure still had an unmistakably excited expression on his face.

After a few moments of catching up, Princess Celestia cleared her throat to draw everyone and everypony's attention back to her. Once she had their attention, she told them how their time was up, and that the spell to bring their souls back into the living world would wear off in a minute.

Ryan and Rainbow Dash both gave tearful goodbyes to Ryan's parents, who just smiled and waved. Crescent, Twilight, Carl, and James, those who knew Bright the best, even if he was only Mr. Courtie, the local, eccentric magician, to some of them for years, said their good-byes before he slowly faded away.

Similarly, Ryan's parents did the same until their happy faces were completely gone, leaving a teary-eyed Ryan and Rainbow Dash, who was trying her best to hold back her emotions only to realize that she failed miserably as tear-drops rolled down her cheeks and landed on the floor around her.

Once everyone was settled, they turned their attention back to the princess. "Now what? Do we just go down to Ponyville and that's that?"

Princess Celestia shook her head, "No. There is one more thing I must tell you, Carl."

"What?" Carl asked in confusion.

"While the other five no longer have a high concentration of magic in them, you do. Because of this, when you enter Equestria, you will no longer be a human."

"W-What do you mean?" Carl asked somewhat nervously.

"There's a reason why we knew your identity before the other five, there's a reason your eyes are violet instead of a normal, human color; you have such a high concentration of magic deep in your soul that we could sense who you were, while Twilight needed to be up close to sense them magic of the other five elements," She looked up at the others, who all remembered how Twilight invaded their "personal space" to find out if they were the elements, putting her horn to their chest. "Carl, right now my magic is keeping you a human while you are in this castle, but once you leave, you will become a unicorn."

Carl's jaw dropped in shock; it was a true _what the fuck_ moment, if there ever was one.

"Carl, I'm sorry that I forgot to tell you." Princess Celestia said.

Carl just stared before he looked down at Twilight, who just stared back up at him with some worry; worry about how he'd react to the news and hoping that learning such a shocking thing wouldn't make him reject the idea of living with her.

But just then he spoke up, "Twi…when I'm a unicorn…will you teach me magic?"

Twilight was shocked by this question, but it nonetheless made her suddenly feel better. "I don't know Carl, you seem pretty skilled at your magic already."

"I could always improve." Carl said with a small smile.

Twilight could feel her face become warm, as her cheeks grew red with a blush. She then grinned and nodded very quickly, letting out a very excited "Yes! This will be so fun!".

She jumped up and hugged Carl, "You're going to be a unicorn. Oh I can't wait to help you perfect all of the spells I know! Teleportation, levitation, OH! You'll be like my own star pupil! I'll be like the Princess and you'll be like me!"

Carl hugged her back and let out a small laugh, "I can't wait either."

Sure Carl felt sad that he was no longer going to be a human, but at the same time the idea of being a unicorn that Twilight taught was possibly one of the coolest things he could happen to him.

Princess Celestia smiled and turned to the others, "You five, on the other hand, have the choice of staying human or becoming ponies."

There was silence for about a second before Ryan stepped forward, "Can you turn me into a Pegasus?" he asked.

He turned back to Rainbow Dash, who just looked at him before asking, "Ryan are you sure? You know I love you as a human…"

"Dashie if I'm a human, I'm going to slow you down. You'll be on the ground more than you should; you deserve to be with a Pegasus who can fly beside you, to fly with you. Besides, you live in a cloud, how could I be up there with you if I would fall right through the floor?" Ryan snickered a little and looked at Rainbow Dash with a smile, "I'll stay a human if you really want me to, but otherwise I'd love to be a pegasus like you."

Rainbow Dash smiled, "Well…you _did_ look pretty cute in your dream, maybe your actual pegasus self will be just as awesome looking."

Ryan smiled back and they both walked over to each other and hugged, planting a kiss on the lips.

"What about the rest of you?" the Princess asked.

"Pinkie, is it okay if I stay a human?" Pete asked and Pinkie Pie nodded.

"Uh-huh! Of course Petey!"

"Rarity, if you don't mind…I'll stay like this too…for now." Louis said.

Rarity nodded, "Darling that's more than all right, I think you make a handsome human."

"I'll stay human too." James said as he turned to Fluttershy. "Even though you're a Pegasus, you don't fly too often, right?"

Fluttershy shrugged, "Not really."

"You know I have a spell back in my library that can turn you into ponies, if you ever change your mind." Twilight added, which made James, Pete and Louis all feel better. They were all fascinated with the idea, but didn't want to go through such a change just yet. Maybe down the line they would turn themselves into ponies, especially when they wanted to have a family, but for now they all decided to remain their human selves.

Alex, on the other hand, didn't say anything out loud, and instead was in a lengthy conversation with Applejack.

"Alex?" Princess Celestia asked. "What's your choice?"

Applejack let out a giggle as Alex turned to Princess Celestia and smiled, "Pony me up."

"What made you decide that?" Pete asked.

"Well if I'm working on Sweet Apple Acres, it would only make sense for me to become a pony so I can buck apples. I mean, I have strong legs, but I think being an Earth pony would make me more useful." He then turned to Applejack to see her beaming in delight, the thought of Alex being an earth pony like her made her heart race. "And I might as well be the same species as my new family."

Applejack giggled and walked over and hugged Alex.

Princess Celestia nodded and motioned for everypony to move to the center of the room they were in. Crescent watched as all twelve elements and Spike massed in the center of the room, their necklaces, and Carl and Twilight's crowns, glistening in the light that crept into the hallway through the stained-glass windows.

Crescent watched as Princess Celestia moved to the group, "As you teleport, Ryan and Alex you will change. Carl will change as soon as he is back in Twilight's tree house."

They all nodded and Princess Celestia closed her eyes and her horn began to glow when Carl held his hand out, "Wait, Princess Celestia!"

She stopped charging her horn and looked at Carl. He gave he a kind smile, "Thanks for everything."

She nodded, "Don't mention it. And I will teleport communication devices to you in a few days so you can call your families."

The Princess went back to charging her horn and there was a sudden, bright flash. Crescent shielded his eyes as the thirteen being that had stood in front of him were now gone, off to Twilight's library.

"Um…Princess…what am I to do?" he asked nervously.

Princess Celestia smiled, "Crescent, you are to help me here at the castle. I could use somepony like you in the Royal Guard."

Crescent blushed, "Thank you."

"Oh!" Princess Celestia had a light bulb moment, "I forgot somepony to send James' way. Crescent, will you get me Bravery?"

Crescent nodded and gave the Princess a smile, "With pleasure."

And with that, he went off to get the small pony named Bravery that the Princess had asked for.

**Remember, there will be two more chapters. The next one will be up in really soon and then there will be an epilogue to end the story.**

**As far as sequels go, I'm not sure. If I do decide to write one, it will be later on when I come up with an idea for a good follow-up (I don't want an un-necessary sequel like so many movies have now), or it may never come. Right now, I am going to start work on some screenplays before summer is over. Anyway, two more chapters and then its done, and the next chapter should be out in a day.**

**So, thanks for reading and, as always…**

**Go Giants! Go Rainbow Dash!**


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25- The Start of a New Life**

**Okay, last non-epilogue Chapter.**

**I hope you enjoy, and thanks again for reading this story.**

**And I only own my OCs.**

**Twilight's Library**

A loud "pop" was all Carl heard before he found himself in Twilight's library. He immediately noticed that he didn't feel like his normal self, and he was pretty sure why, though he wanted to be positive. He turned to his left to where Twilight had been. Even before he had the chance to ask her if the Princess was right and if he was a unicorn, two things gave him his answer.

One was that Twilight was now only a few inches below Carl's eye-level, and she was standing on all four hooves. She wasn't on two, where such a height wouldn't have been to out of the ordinary.

The other was the excited look in her eyes as she looked into Carl's face.

"I take it I'm a unicorn now?" Carl asked and Twilight giggled and gave him a nod.

"Yep, and a cute one at that." She said with bedroom eyes that made Carl blush. He wasn't used to such flirty behavior from her, but he wasn't complaining. After all, when she did act like that it was one of the cutest things Carl had ever seen.

Twilight looked around and nodded towards the others, who were now to the right of Carl, conversing and gawking over something.

"And I think the Princess' spell worked on the others."

Carl turned around to see Louis, Pete, James, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Spike, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack…and two other ponies that were not there before; one pegasus and an earth pony.

The pegasus did not look exactly like the one in Ryan's dream, but it was still similar. Its coat was still dark blue, but it had a mane of a mixture of blonde, light brown, and dark brown, which was shaded in a way that made it look like a brown rainbow. In other words, it looked like an all-brown version of Rainbow Dash's mane.

The earth pony had a red-orange coat and a blonde mane and tail. His eyes were also a darker green then Applejack's eyes were, and he was by far the tallest of the three new stallions in the library. He also looked to be the most muscular, on par with Big Macintosh, which wasn't too surprising since he was an earth pony.

That's when the pegasus, who Rainbow Dash was kissing on the lips, looked up at Twilight and Carl.

He broke the kiss and grinned, "Well, well, well, I guess the Princess wasn't kidding about you no longer being a human."

"Ryan, is that you?" Carl asked.

Ryan just grinned and gave a big, joyful nod.

"Yep it is Ryan," Rainbow Dash looked up at him, "and doesn't he make a totally wicked awesome pegasus?"

"And bonus, walking on all fours isn't that difficult," said Alex, the red earth pony, who trotted over with Applejack's hat on his head. His partner was standing beside him with a grin on her face. "Have you seen what you look like yet Carl?"

Carl then realized that he hadn't looked at himself in a mirror yet. As if on cue, a mirror floated to him and stopped right in front of his face, encased in a violet aura as Twilight's magic held it up for him to get a good look at himself. He walked closer to it so that he could see his new face.

His coat was purple like Twilight, but it was a darker tone of purple, almost like a mixture of black and purple. His eyes were violet, and his mane was…yellow and orange. It looked like his mane and tail were on fire, something that he had to admit looked pretty cool. He grinned and looked over his body, "This…this is so cool." He laughed as the mirror levitated back onto a shelf.

"Twi, I…" he turned to Twilight to say something, only to be silenced as she pushed her lips against his own. There were some mocking whistles and hollers from the crowd of friends around them, which made Carl want to turn around and give them all the middle finger…but then he remembered he had hooves, so that wouldn't work out. In fact, he felt like it probably was best to hold back on his swearing and rude gestures while he lived in an innocent place like Equestria.

"Hey Pete!" Pinkie Pie said as she bounced around, "do you want to go to Sugarcube Corner and get the party ready for tonight?"

"Party?" Rarity asked and Pete nodded.

"A victory party tonight at Sugarcube Corner for everypony here," Pete then thought of something. "And yes Pinkie I'd love to go, as long as nopony panics about my appearance when I go into town."

"We'll come with y'all." Applejack said as she looked up at Alex the earth pony, "Besides, I want ta introduce ya to our family."

Alex smiled back, "Of course, let's just…"

At that moment, there was a sudden "pop" and flash of light in the room. They all turned around to see that a mysterious filly was now standing in the library. Her coat was yellow, the same color yellow as Applebloom, and her mane was a vibrant green and she had a small pair of wings tucked into the side of her body. She looked up at the group with a big grin on her face.

Her eyes scanned landed on James, who just looked at her, not knowing whom this pony was, but for some reason she seemed to know exactly who he was.

"James." She said with a grin.

As soon as the words left her lips, James' eyes went wide in complete and utter surprise. He knew that voice anywhere, no matter what the source looked like. Whether it was pony, as it was now, or as a human…as she was only a few days before, he could always recognize that voice that brought brightness to his life whenever he heard it.

"C-Caroline?" he said, only to have the small filly nod before running over to him and hugging him. James could feel her as she hugged him with a strength that she didn't have when she was human due to her illness. James hugged her back as tears of joy began to flow from his eyes and land onto the filly's back.

"Caroline I…how…"

"Remember how I wanted to live in Equestria after I died?"

James nodded and Caroline chuckled, "Apparently God listened and sent me to Princess Celestia to wait until you came back. Princess Celestia said God hardly ever does things like this, but because I had such a hard and short life on Earth he decided to make me an exception and bring me here. The Princess forgot to let me see you back at the castle, but…here I am now."

James broke the hug and looked into his cousin's big, green, animated eyes, still harboring the innocence that she always had, even with everything that she went through, and nodded, "I don't care…I…I'm just so happy to see you again."

James continued to cry as Caroline hugged him, "Glad to see you too James. And my name is Bravery now; the Princess gave it to me because, well, Caroline isn't much of a pony name."

"Well, nopony deserves to be named Bravery as much as you kiddo."

They continued to cry in their embrace while everypony watched, emotions at an all-time high for the group. James could feel himself thanking God, a God that he wasn't sure existed until that moment, and was now thankful that he at least had the courtesy to send Caroline to the one place she would be happiest in the universe for a second chance at life.

"Well, me and Ryan need to get going. I want to get him up to my house," Rainbow Dash said as she motioned for Ryan to follow her.

"Wait, I can't fly yet…can I?" Ryan asked.

Rainbow Dash shook her head, "I don't think so, but why don't you try flying just to be sure?"

Ryan nodded and closed his eyes, thinking about lifting off into the air and soaring the skies with Rainbow Dash. His wings began to flap and he started to get up off of the ground and fly, he looked down and grinned, "I'm doing it! I'm…whoaaaaa!."

Unfortunately he became too cocky and fell back down to the floor with a loud "thud".

As Ryan sat up, rubbing his flank from the fall, everyone and everypony burst out into laughter. Ryan blushed in embarrassment while Rainbow Dash, who was also laughing, flew down to him so that she could help him up. " He-he, I'll bring a cloud down to you and give you a lift up."

Once Ryan got back to his hooves, with Rainbow Dash's help, he laughed, "Yeah that's probably for the best." Ryan nodded and, just then, thought of something, "Wait…my cutie mark! What is it?"

He turned around to see that on his flank was…nothing.

"Oh sweet Celestia I'm a blank-flank." He muttered.

"Hey! We all are!" Alex said as he looked at himself, and then Carl, who also noticed his lack of a cutie mark, "what gives, we're full-grown ponies, shouldn't we have our cutie marks?"

"You just turned into ponies," Twilight said as she examined Carl's lack of a cutie mark, "I think I read somewhere that you never automatically get one just after turning into a pony."

"Ah guess ya still need ta find yer special talent then," Applejack said teasingly before motioning for Alex to follow her, "and ah know three little ponies that will be glad ta help ya out with that."

Alex's expression fell and he groaned as he followed Applejack, and even though walking wasn't too hard, he still was getting used to the feeling of it, "Are you making fun of me AJ?."

"Nah, all ah'm just suggestin' is that ya can be the fourth Cutie Mark Crusader Alex! Ah'm sure Applebloom will just love ta have ya join. You might be an adult blank-flank, adult pony who doesn't know his special talent, but yer _mah_ adult blank-flank, adult pony who doesn't know his special talent." Applejack mocked. She then pecked Alex on the cheek and quickly ran off to the farm.

Alex right behind her, shouting at her, "Wow, I didn't think you could be this patronizing…ahhh!"

Alex face-planted before he scrambled back to his feet to follow Applejack, going at a pace that he could walk at without toppling over due to lack of experience running on four legs, after all sometimes it really _was_ better to walk before running, even if walking on four legs didn't seem to hard at first. Even as Alex chased Applejack, he thought of ways to get her back for teasing him, he had a big smile on his face. After all he wasn't mad at Applejack, and was so happy that he got to stay with her.

Rainbow Dash tapped Ryan on the head and flew in front of him, "All right Ryan, I'll get you a cloud so you can get up to my house and tomorrow we start flight training."

"You…coaching me?" Ryan asked and Rainbow Dash nodded. He gulped as the realization set in that Rainbow Dash would be his coach. He suddenly got worried, "Why do I fear your coaching methods?"

Rainbow Dash grinned, "Because I'm a tough coach…" she flew over to Ryan and got muzzle to muzzle with him, a sly grin on her face, "and don't expect me to hold back just because you're my handsome coltfriend."

Ryan laughed a little bit, "I don't expect you to."

Ryan and Rainbow Dash kissed and then left, both with loving smiles on their faces.

"Come on Pete, let's go to Sugarcube corner and I'll introduce you to the cakes!" Pinkie Pie said with excitement as she bounced off, Pete right behind her.

"And we plan the party?" Pete asked, only to see that Pinkie wasn't paying attention, she was too excited to get to the bakery. Pete just shrugged and ran after her.

"Louis, shall we?" Rarity asked as she motioned to the door. He nodded.

"Yeah, I should also probably get some paints and stuff."

"Brilliant Louis, but not right now. First I just want to show you around my boutique." Rarity said with a wink before walking off, which made Louis blush.

"Errrr...sounds good," Louis said before he hastily turned to the others and waved, "I'll see you guys later."

And with that, he turned and started to run after Rarity, only to stop and turn around. He had forgotten something very important up until this point.

He pointed to James; "Hey I'm sorry for giving you a hard time in the police station earlier tonight."

"Don't worry about it, we're cool."

Louis nodded and gave James a thankful smile before he turned and jogged off after Rarity, who was deliberately trotting at a slow pace so Louis could catch up with her.

Now, it was only James, Caroline, now Bravery, Fluttershy, Twilight and Spike.

"Do you have a cutie mark?" James asked Bravery.

Bravery sighed and showed James her flank, which was devoid of any marking, "Not yet."

"Well then let's work on it." James turned to Fluttershy, who flew over to his side and kissed him on the cheek. They looked at each other and both blushed.

"I love you so much James."

"Love you too 'Shy."

Fluttershy hugged James and then went down to Bravery's side and landed beside her.

"Now Bravery, let's go back to my house and I can introduce you to all of my animals." She said as Bravery grinned in complete excitement at walking alongside her favorite cartoon character. "Maybe your cutie mark has something to do with animals."

"That would be so cool Fluttershy!" Bravery said with pure enthusiasm. "I love animals!"

James followed as Bravery giggled and ran ahead of them, getting airborne for a moment before landing, still not used to her tiny wings.

James turned to Carl, Spike and Twilight and gave them a little wave before following Fluttershy and Bravery. Spike went to the door and shut it before turning back to the two unicorns that looked into each other's eyes.

"Um…if you two need me I'll be in the back…sorting books and…stuff." Spike said before running off to leave the two love-ponies alone, thinking that it would be polite to give them some alone time.

Carl and Twilight looked at each other, both suddenly realizing that they were completely alone. Both gave out nervous chuckles as they tried to think about something to say.

"Okay, so I'm a unicorn." Carl said with an awkward smile on his face.

Twilight giggled, "Yes you are."

"So…where do we go from here." Carl asked as he rubbed the back of his neck with his hoof, an embarrassed blush on his face as he grinned.

"Well…I think we should get busy…" Twilight began in a sensual way. Carl started to get flustered and he gave her a smile back; excited as to where this could go. But just as Twilight was mere inches from his face, her eyes stuck in "bedroom" mode and her smile coy, her eyes shot completely and she grinned, "…and I should start teaching you magic! Come on I've got some great spells to show you!"

She happily trotted away, leaving Carl in place as he stared off into nothingness with the same expectant expression on his face until he realized that she was gone. He was shocked by her sudden change in her attitude, not sure if she deliberately teased him or if she was just really excited at the idea of teaching him magic. He shook his head and let out a small chuckle, "You're such a nerd."

"Awww, but that's why you love me." She answered teasingly as she used her magic to pull a book down from one of the top shelves.

Carl walked over to her and nodded his head, "You're right about that."

Twilight turned around and smiled before quickly planting a kiss on Carl's muzzle. He kissed back and they stood in place, kissing as the book that was levitating in Twilight's magic fell to the floor; her mind solely on Carl.

Carl kissed back, his own mind only on Twilight. He didn't take notice earlier when they kissed, but it was so different to kiss as a pony, but in a good way. Now he knew the reason Ryan always talked about his feelings about Rainbow Dash and himself being "equals" and how he felt that was extremely romantic.

They eventually broke the kiss and Twilight blushed as she looked into Carl's eyes, "You know your eyes really are beautiful."

With that, they smiled at each other and Twilight walked over to get the book. She floated it back over to Carl and opened it up so they were on one of the front pages.

"All right, time for a basic levitation spell on a book."

"Um Twilight I have levitated things before, like those anarchists and…?"

"I know, but I want to make sure you know how to use your horn as opposed to your hand, they are two different appendages after all." Twilight said before shooting Carl a smug look, "and you could _always_ improve."

"You're being quite condescending Twi." Carl said with a sly smile.

Twilight giggled before she levitated a book over in front of Carl before letting it fall to the ground, indicating that she wanted him to levitate it. She then looked up at Carl with a big smile, "Okay, are you ready to start practicing?"

"Yep," Carl cracked his neck to the side and turned back to Twilight with a smile that beamed in eagerness and confidence, "Let's do this."

**Well, that's all before I do the whole "One Month Later" thing in the next chapter.**

**And as I said, I am not sure about a sequel. If there is one, it won't be for a while as I want to make sure I have a good story (better to end a story when it's good than make an unnecessary sequel)**

**So thanks for reading and reviewing and, as always...**

**Go Giants! Go Rainbow Dash!**


	26. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**This is it, the last chapter of the story; the epilogue.**

**Also this is the first time ever, I'm using someone else's OC character. All credit for Castor goes to Novanto, who I'd like to personally thank for letting me use him in this chapter.**

**At the end of this chapter will be possibly a long author's note to finish off the story.**

**So I hope you enjoy this conclusion, and I only own my OC characters.**

**-One Month Later-**

**Princess Celestia's Castle**

Princess Celestia walked down the long hallway of her castle; the hallway that was lined with the familiar stained-glass windows that had always done so, but now there was one more that was added to the collection.

Princess Celestia stopped walking when her eyes fell on Crescent Light, who was standing at the end of the hallway. Crescent was now wearing a uniform, the gold armor showing that he was a member of the Canterlot Royal Guard. He was looking up at the newest addition to the collection of stained glass windows; a window that showed the image of twelve beings, each one paired with another in a heart that was each a separate color, blasting a rainbow-colored beam of magic at the image of a certain draconequus, as he was trapped back in his stone prison.

In each heart was one pony, obviously the six elements of harmony of Equestria, and one human, the six elements of harmony of Earth. All of them were joined by the love they shared for each other, represented by the hearts they were encased in with their partners.

Crescent had a very serious expression on his face, but his eyes showed his regret, which was still present in his heart. Though he managed to put his part behind him for the most part, he knew that as long as he lived, he'd never forget the pain that he caused. As he looked at the window, he was reminded of it all even more.

What was even worse was that the image in the window also showed the city of Wilmont, engulfed in fire and darkness, not just from night, but also from the smoke that rose up to the heavens, a scene that defines chaos in our reality.

As Crescent's eyes followed the smoke to the top of the window, he could feel tears start to form as the memory of the war he helped create came back to him. Before he could break down in hysterics, he felt the reassuring hoof of Princess Celestia on his shoulder.

He turned and looked up at her, his face somewhat hidden from the gold helmet he now wore as a part of his uniform, but the regret he felt was displayed in his face, clear as day.

Princess Celestia gave Crescent a concerned look, "Are you all right Crescent?"

Crescent turned away from the Princess' kind eyes and gave her a small nod, "Yes, I am. It's just that…"

"You still are beating yourself up about what you did." Princess Celestia finished Crescent's statement.

Crescent nodded, "I understand that I need to let it go, but it's so hard."

"I know it is Crescent, and I don't expect you to completely forgive yourself. I wish you could, but I know it's impossible." Princess Celestia said in the most soothing way possible, "but just remember that I've forgiven you, everypony has forgiven you…and Bright has forgiven you."

Crescent looked up at the Princess as he remembered how Bright forgave him face-to-face here in the castle upon his return. He nodded and gave a weak smile, as if to say _thank you for everything._

He turned and trotted off, knowing that while his past could always be put behind him, it would forever be a part of him; haunting him from the dark corners of his mind until the day he died.

Until the day he was reunited with Bright, the day they could be best friends again.

As the Princess watched Crescent walk off, she nodded. She understood how hard it was for him to get over everything. He was even reluctant to show his face to the other members of the Royal Guard, as they were all knew what he did, and were hesitant to trust him. It was only after Princess Luna gave Crescent a small, encouraging pep talk, former villain that was consumed by darkness to former villain that was consumed by darkness, that he finally managed to open up and put most of his troubles to rest.

As if on cue, Princess Luna walked to her sister's side, having watched the entire scene play out from the end of the hallway and keeping her distance so that her sister could do what she did best, bring peace to everypony, no matter how upset they were.

"Sister, how is Crescent doing?" Luna asked.

"Better." Princess Celestia replied with a nod. "But he will always carry that burden with him."

"We understand how he feels." The goddess of night responded, knowing how she also had trouble completely forgiving herself for everything that she did as Nightmare Moon. She looked back up at her sister, "How art the humans?"

Princess Celestia smiled down at her sister, "They're doing fine."

"Hath thou talketh to them?"

Princess Celestia nodded, "Yes, in fact, Carl is supposed to be sending me a letter today."

"A letter?"

"Yes; a friendship report about what he learned from his fight with Discord."

**Twilight's Library**

"Uggghhhhh…why is this sooooo hard?" Carl complained as he paced through the library, his head down low, eyes staring at the floor. Spike sat on a chair while Carl continued to try and think of what he should have him write to the Princess and, as English and public speaking were subjects he despised, coming up with what to say off the top of his head was extremely difficult. He knew that he could come up with a good letter once he knew what to report on, but pinpointing one, specific thing to discuss was extremely hard to do. After all, it's the process of coming up with what to write about that's the hardest for most writers…pony or human.

"I don't know, Twilight seems to be pretty good at it." Spike said.

Carl looked up at him and scowled, "Spike; Twilight's a genius, and I barely got by in school. How can she and I be compared with writing letters. She's smart, and I'm dumb."

"You seem to pick up spells pretty quickly for being "dumb"." Spike said, putting his fingers up in quite marks to emphasize _dumb_, as if he didn't think Carl was dumb at all.

"I've told you before, magic is one thing." Carl turned to Spike and closed his eyes. His horn began to glow purple before a violet aura, a slightly darker tone than Twilight's, surrounded the dragon's body and lifted him up, as if to prove his point on how easily magic came to him. Spike was initially surprised by Carl's use of aura on him, but soon calmed down. After all, Twilight had done much more controversial things to the baby dragon in the past while practicing her own magic. Eventually, Carl gently lowered Spike back down to the chair, before he opened his violet eyes and his horn stopped glowing. "Learning algebra and world history is something else entirely."

Spike chuckled a little bit, "Listen, why don't we wait for Twilight to get back. I'm sure she'll be glad to help you with this letter."

Carl nodded and trotted over to a book on magic, which he had been reading, per Twilight's instructions, and continued to look it over. It didn't take long for Carl to get the hang of using his horn to create magic. In fact, he picked it up at such a fast rate that Twilight felt intimidated.

On the second week, Carl earned his cutie mark, which turned out to be a giant sparkle-like shape; almost identical to Twilight's, that had five smaller stars inside of it. Twilight interpreted it as the other five elements within him, as he was the element of magic, and they were within the bigger star since it was his magic and his element that were the main key in driving the power for the others. She also said that the big star represented his talent for practicing magic.

Carl honestly could care less what the meaning behind it was, he was just happy to have a cutie mark, and especially so to have one so similar to Twilight's.

But even though he was doing great, Twilight still gave him assignments out of books while pestering him to perfect his spells and learn new ones. To her, there was no such thing as knowing too many spells.

Carl could have complained, but practicing meant more time with Twilight, and he would never give that up just because of a little homework. Besides, whenever they worked together, Twilight was all smiles, as she loved playing teacher and feeling like Princess Celestia. She even called Carl "my star pupil" every now and then to tease him.

Even after Carl mastered his magic, he still wanted to work with her, just because of how fun it was.

"So how do you like being a unicorn?" Spike asked, snapping Carl free of his temporary daydreaming about his marefriend.

"Huh? Oh, yeah it's really cool." Carl said with a big grin. "I thought it would be strange, but really I'm glad with the transformation. Besides, I think I look pretty sweet as a stallion, don't ya think?"

Carl struck a pose like he was in mid-trot and looked over at Spike with a "sexy-face". Spike just cracked up.

"He-he, yeah you look pretty cool. Enjoying that large window the Princess gave you so that you can communicate to your family?"

"Definitely, it sure made this transition easier." Carl said with a smile, realizing how grateful he had been when the window, about five-feet tall and four feet wide, had been teleported to Twilight's library from Canterlot, along with a letter from the Princess telling him how to use it. It looked like an ordinary window, but when Carl concentrated on his family, he could see them and talk with them.

The only issue was that he could only use the window for one hour every week before it ran out of "juice" and had to remain unused so it could "charge up". Seriously, it was like the iPhone of windows...that only stayed charged for a minimal amount of time.

"How did they react to you being a pony?" Spike asked, referring to Carl's family.

Carl laughed, "Oh my sisters were ecstatic; they watch the show so seeing their brother as a cartoon pony was like a dream to them. My mom on the other hand couldn't say anything for about five minutes, she was so stunned, I seriously thought she was going to pass out. But eventually she was cool with it and said I looked handsome and then asked how my relationship was with Twilight…she _is_ a mother after all. Can't blame her for being interested in my love life."

"Did Lisa say anything about me?" Spike asked.

"Yeah she misses you a lot; so does Anna."

Spike let out a dreamy sigh, "Good to hear, I miss them too."

"You have a crush on Lisa, didn't you?" Carl asked with a grin.

Spike's eyes widened and shook his head, "No…no, no, no of course not! I mean…she's not a dragon."

"Neither is Rarity and you had no problem falling in love with her until she started dating Louis."

Spike was about to respond when Carl gave him a look that made him realize that he wasn't going to talk his way out of the truth, "Er…fine. I guess I have a bit of a crush on Lisa, please don't tell her."

Carl nodded, "Sure, whatever you say. Even though she has a crush on you too I won't…"

"She does?" Spike asked with a hopeful smile. Carl nodded and Spike jumped up, "Wow! That's great; we need to bring her here! Maybe she'd like to become a dragon!" Spike let out a sigh that only could be interpreted as him entering a fantasy with Lisa, something Carl wasn't too happy about.

"Dude, stop fantasizing about my sister." Carl snapped, bringing Spike out of his daydream.

"Oh, sorry." Spike blushed and rubbed the back of his head before he changed the subject, "When did the Princess say your family could come to Equestria?"

Carl suddenly looked downcast and gave a small, sad shrug, "I'm still waiting to find out myself. I hope soon, but I don't know, she hasn't said anything yet."

Spike's smile fell and he nodded, "I'm sorry man, I wish you didn't have to leave them behind."

Carl looked up at Spike and smiled, "It's cool; at least I can talk to them, right?"

Spike gave Carl a hopeful thumb's up before Carl turned back to read the magic book as he waited for Twilight to get back from Rarity's so that she could help him finish his letter.

**Carousel Boutique**

Twilight stood in front of a mirror, looking at the very nice, white gown that Rarity had made so that she could have something to wear to upcoming formal events. Her jaw dropped in amazement as she took notice of her beautiful reflection. Rarity stood right behind her. Her excitement was clear even though she was wearing the red pair of glasses that she always had on when she was designing clothes.

"What do you think darling?"

"Wow, you've really outdone yourself Rarity." Twilight said in amazement as she moved to the side to get an even better look at the entire dress.

"It's not even finished yet, I still need to put on some more gems." Rarity said, walking around Twilight and examining the entire dress to see the empty spaces where she was planning to put the beautiful gems.

"Regardless, it's amazing, how did you come up with it?" Twilight asked as she, too, looked over the dress.

"Oh I didn't, Louis did." Rarity said as she pointed to the corner of the boutique, where Louis was sitting in a chair at a desk, drawing out images of different dresses for Rarity to create. It didn't take long for him to make the transition from being a painter to a designer; a few days of fashion education from the master fashionista pony herself, and he was all set. Soon, he was very well-known around town for his designing skills, as well as the occasional paintings he did.

While his fame wasn't as great as it would have been had he played soccer for UNC, and possibly the U.S. national team, he found peace in knowing that here he was bringing the pride to his parents' name that he so longed to do back on Earth. What made it even sweeter, though, was that he did so by doing what he loved rather than what everyone else pushed him to do.

"Well then, Louis this is a lovely dress you've designed." Twilight complimented as the human boy turned to her and shrugged it off.

"Thanks, but you should thank Rarity."

"Louis I am truly flattered that you think I deserve credit, but it was your design."

"Yeah, but I learned from the best, and that's you Rare." He said, using the nickname that he had given her a few weeks before.

Rarity blushed at the compliment and let out a soft giggle, "Oh such a sweetie you are."

"Speaking of Sweetie, where is the little filly?" Louis asked as he put the pencil down to look at Rarity, who put her hoof to her chin in thought while Twilight continued to admire her reflection.

"I believe she's with her friends," Rarity answered before nodding, "yes, yes I remember now she went off for the day to join Apple Bloom and Scootaloo."

"Cutie mark crusading?" Louis asked and Rarity nodded. Louis gave a chuckle and turned back to his drawings and picked up a quill and dipped it in ink, "those fillies sure are something else."

Rarity chuckled, "Indeed they are."

Rarity trotted over and she and Louis began to kiss, not minding that Twilight was still in the shop.

"Well, I think I'll leave you guys alone." Twilight said with a blush as she used her magic to remove the gown and gently place it onto the table, "Rarity I'll stop by later on to pick it up once you finish it."

Rarity didn't turn away from her kiss with Louis and instead waved Twilight on, making the purple unicorn chuckle lightly before trotting out of the shop.

**Cutie Mark Crusader Clubhouse**

"Any other ideas?" Sweetie Belle asked as Scootaloo and Apple Bloom both buried their faces in their hooves, deep in thought regarding how they could get their cutie marks. They were all sitting in a small circle at the center of their tree house. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were clearly deep in thought. Scootaloo was staring off into space while Apple Bloom was looking down at the floor, and both of them had their hooves to their chins.

"I can't think of anything." Scootaloo muttered in disappointment, "It seems like we've tried everything under the sun and we still don't have our cutie marks."

"Come on, you have to be positive," Sweetie Belle said encouragingly before she turned to Applebloom, "What do you think Apple Bloom?"

Apple Bloom sighed.

"Ah don't know," she looked up from the floor and through the window, "Where in the hay's Alex?"

"Isn't he still helping your sister?" Scootaloo asked, to which Apple Bloom thought before nodding in realization, a look on her face that showed how dumb she sounded for even asking such a question.

"Oh yeah, I forgot." Apple Bloom said with a blush, "it's just so weird to see an adult pony without a cutie mark, well…I mean he has one now, but when we first saw him it sure was bafflin'."

"I hear ya, I nearly jumped back ten feet when I saw Rainbow Dash's coltfriend without one." Scootaloo said, remembering how she ran into Ryan and Rainbow Dash during his first week in Equestria.

Rainbow Dash was still coaching him on how to fly, her classic baseball cap on and a whistle around her neck as she shouted expositions at Ryan such as "ready yourself Ryan" and "don't start slacking bud" and other things one would expect to her come from the mouth of their varsity football coach instead of a cartoon pony that they were in a relationship with.

Then again, it _is_ Rainbow Dash, so it shouldn't be too surprising.

"Hey, maybe we should go stop by!" Sweetie Belle suggested with a grin as she hopped to her feet excitedly. The other two fillies nodded happily and they all left their clubhouse. They set off to get Alex.

**Sweet Apple Acres**

Alex thrust his back hooves into the trunk of the tree, resulting in all of the apples falling into the buckets that lay beneath. He turned around to see his success and grinned.

"Boy-howdy, that's some mighty impressive buckin' there Alex! Yer a natural." Applejack said as she trotted over to Alex's side.

He looked back at her and nodded, "Glad to hear ya approve of it AJ."

Applejack let out a laugh, "He-he, ah can't believe how much yer accent changed since movin' here."

"Hangin' out with y'all made my southern accent return." Alex said with a small smile. "Now it's here to stay."

And it was true. Something about staying with the Apple family made his accent come back with a vengeance. It wasn't anywhere near as thick as Applejack or Big Mac's accent, it was more like a mix of his Northeastern and Southern accents, but it was definitely there, and it definitely made him sound more like a part of the family that had accepted him so warmly upon arriving to Ponyville.

"Well ah think it sounds wonderful." Applejack said, making Alex blush so much that she could notice it, even under his dark orange coat. She let out a small giggle before leaning in and planting a kiss on Alex's mouth, which he returned almost instantly.

"Applejack! Alex!" came a trio of familiar, young voices from nearby. Both Applejack and Alex pulled away, blushing and looking away from each other. Alex even pulled off the stereotypical "rubbing the back of his neck with his hoof" gesture to demonstrate his embarrassment. Applejack and him both let out small giggles just as Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle all burst into sight from behind a tree.

Alex and Applejack didn't have time to react before all three fillies launched themselves at Alex, tackling him and bringing him down to the grass. Applejack just watched with a smile on her face at how cute the scene was, her coltfriend laying on the grass, laughing with her little sister and her two friends.

"Where have you been?" Scootaloo asked Alex as she lay on Alex's right leg.

"Ah've just been workin' with AJ out here in the orchards."

"I'm still shocked at how much your voice changed, you sound just like an Apple." Sweetie Belle said and Alex smiled before he playfully messed up her mane. Sweetie Belle pushed Alex's hoof away so she could look at him, "Can we see your cutie mark again?"

Alex nodded and, while still on the ground, turned his leg to the side to show the girls his cutie mark, which was, as with most of the apple family, apple-related. It was a big, red apple with a single star next to it.

"Wow, that's so cool." Scootaloo said excitedly.

"What does it mean again?" Apple Bloom asked.

"It means ah'm good at bucking apples," Alex said with a chuckle, "and the star here ah think represents me being from Texas, but ah'm not completely sure."

"Texas?" Apple Bloom asked.

"It's a place on Earth." Alex said with a smile, remembering the large apple orchard from his dream that Applejack had to wake him from. Now it was like he was back in the dream, but it was real, and instead of his father by his side he had Applejack, Big Macintosh, who was surprisingly accepting of their relationship, Granny Smith and Apple Bloom, who looked up to Alex like he was her big brother.

"A place ah'll never forget." He finished with a small smile as he continued to look at his cutie mark.

"Now girls, what do ya want with Alex?" Applejack asked.

"He's supposed ta come help us find our cutie marks!" Apple Bloom said as she hopped off of Alex's chest and trotted over to Applejack. "Is he done with work yet sis?"

Applejack looked at Alex as he slowly made his way to his hooves once Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle got off of him. He looked at Applejack as Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle turned and walked over to her and both said, with their best puppy-dog eyes look, "Please?"

Alex walked over with them and looked at Applejack and gave her his own puppy dog eyes, and spoke in a mock child-like voice, "May ah pwese go pway with them Mommy Applejack?"

Applejack laughed a little bit at Alex's acting and nodded, "We got a good haul so far today, and I suppose a break is deserved."

Apple Bloom jumped up and ran over to Alex and gave him a big hug around the neck, which the other two girls did as well. The girls all got off of Alex and began to lead him off. As he was dragged away by three fillies, he turned back to Applejack and smiled at her.

She returned the gesture and blew him a kiss before turning back to continue her work.

**Sugarcube Corner**

"Lyra! I've got your cake ready!" Pinkie Pie said enthusiastically as she trotted over to the counter, where Lyra Heartstrings was busy examining Pete's hands, completely transfixed by his human appendages. She let go of the hands and got back to interviewing Pete.

"Thanks Pinkie! Okay one more question before I head out. If you have yourself turned into a pony, how will you compensate for a lack of fingers?"

"_If_, I ever decide to have myself turned into a pony." Pete said with extra emphasis, as if to say it was unlikely, "I'll just practice using my hooves in place of my hands."

"What's it like to have hands and fingers?" Lyra asked.

Pete flexed his fingers out and looked down at them, smiling a little, "Convenient, very convenient."

Lyra giggled and used her magic to write down notes. When Pete first entered Ponyville, the ponies mostly panicked as they had with Zecora…and as they did in every human in Equestria story ever written, but some did not. Even when Louis, Rarity, Fluttershy, James and Bravery all joined Pete and Pinkie Pie in the middle of town, not all of the ponies ran away and hid in fear.

Just as everyone would probably guess, Lyra had a fascination with humans for years, and upon seeing three of them standing in the middle of Ponyville, she immediately ran over and introduced herself. She then started to bombard them with questions about their species.

It was like a sea-green version of Twilight; always asking questions.

Not far behind her was Bon-Bon, who had grown so used to Lyra's ramblings about humans that she wasn't really frightened by them. Not to mention the presence of Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Bravery and Rarity all made her feel better. Derpy and about four other ponies also approached the humans, apparently learning their lesson about acceptance from what happened with Zecora.

Soon more and more ponies began to appear, noticing that the three human boys were not going to harm them in any way, and eventually the fact that they stood out like sore thumbs didn't matter; they had become part of the Ponyville community.

Since then, Lyra hadn't stopped asking Pete, Louis or James questions whenever she ran into them, though she seemed to seek Pete out more than the other three. Pete wasn't sure if it was because he worked in a bakery or what, but for some reason Lyra always found him and began to ask him questions. Pete didn't mind, in fact he and Lyra didn't always discuss his human-ness and had become good friends who talked about events in Ponyville and other things as well.

Once Lyra knew that Alex, Ryan or Carl were formerly humans, she would also ask them questions. She wasn't as annoying as one would think, though, as she didn't act crazy or overly obsessed with humans, she simply was curious, something all of the boys could respect.

"I really want to thank you for answering all of my questions these past few weeks, I know I can get a little overbearing with them but…"

"You're fascinated by humans, it's all good." Pete said with a small laugh.

Lyra blushed "Thanks Pete. Remember, Bon-Bon and I would love to have you and Pinkie Pie over for dinner sometime. Let me know when you're available."

Pete thanked Lyra for the offer and told her that he'd let her know as soon as possible. Once she paid for her cake, Lyra said good-bye to PEte and Pinkie before she trotted out of the bakery.

Once Lyra was gone, Pete felt Pinkie Pie wrap her hooves around his waist in a tight hug.

"I love how outgoing you've become!" she says happily, "it's so great to see how happy you are."

As she breaks the hug, Pete looks down at her and nods, "Of course, ponies don't judge me for random jokes that make no sense like people do. Sure they may point it out, but they don't think less of me."

"Of course they don't!" Pinkie Pie said as she bounced around, "In fact, many ponies like random personalities. I mean, look at me! I'm the most random pony in all of Ponyville and I'm friends with everypony in Ponyville!"

Pete nodded as the queen of randomness herself continued to bounce around happily before going back over to finish icing a cake that she was working on before Lyra stopped by.

"God you're so bubbly." Pete said.

Pinkie Pie looked at him and smiled before pointing at him with her hoof, "And now you are too."

She gave Pete a little "boop" on the nose.

Pete smiled, "Only because of you."

"I've always said it, laughter is contagious!"

Both Pete and Pinkie Pie laughed together, proving her point, before they both had to get back to work. After all, they may have felt like they were only hanging out, but they were still employees of Mr. and Mrs. Cake, and they had to get back to baking pastries. As he began to help Pinkie Pie with the icing, he was all smiles, something he hadn't been on Earth since he was a small boy, before he felt abandoned by his "friends" and before his parents abandoned him.

It wasn't a great life, but as he looked down at Pinkie Pie, the cute mare he was in love with, he realized how happy he was with how it turned out..

All of the pain in the hospital, the sadness from the lack of friends, the abandonment of his parents; Pinkie Pie made these horrible experiences only seem like nightmares rather than real life.

And now that he was away from it all, he could pretend they were.

**Fluttershy's Cottage**

Bravery was feeding some of Fluttershy's birds when James started to walk over to her so that he could help her out. After all, spreading seeds with hooves, rather than hands, was a difficult task.

Just before he reached her, however, Fluttershy swooped down to Bravery's side.

"Here, let me help you with that Bravery." She said in her kind voice that made James' heart melt.

Fluttershy spread some of the seeds and then turned to Bravery, "Okay, now, do as I do. Use your hoof to scoop the seeds out like a spoon."

She showed Bravery the more correct way of pulling seeds out of the bag. She followed suit and soon, she was feeding the birds easily.

"Wow this is so much easier, thanks Fluttershy!" she said with a big grin on her face.

Fluttershy nodded, "No problem."

James walked over to Fluttershy, "So how's Bravery doing?"

Fluttershy turned to him and smiled, "Pretty good."

James and Fluttershy hugged each other and kissed before James looked down at Bravery, who was still spreading seeds for the birds to eat, and laughed.

"Any closer to getting her cutie mark kiddo?"

Bravery looked down and sighed, "Not yet."

James chuckled back and gave her a small kiss on the top of the head. Just then, Bravery looked up and grinned. She jumped happily and pointed to the dirt road, "Hey, it's the other Cutie Mark Crusaders!"

Alex was walking Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell down the road towards Fluttershy's house, stopping by to pick up Bravery.

A few days after Bravery and James had settled in with Fluttershy, she got the surprise of the three little fillies stopping by the cottage and inviting her to join the club along with Alex. Bravery, of course, accepted almost immediately and since that day she has been working on getting her cutie mark along with the other four.

Well, three now that Alex had one, and he was just helping the girls find their own special talents.

"Hi there Bravery!" Apple Bloom said excitedly as she ran over to meet Bravery, Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo right behind her. "We were just about ta go down ta the fields outside of Ponyville ta hang out and think of someting we could try to earn our cutie mark, and thought ya might want ta come alone."

Bravery nodded, "Boy would I!"

Alex stepped over to Bravery and smiled at her, "Hey Bravery."

"Hiya Alex." Bravery said in her still excited tone. "Mind if I come along?"

Alex nodded, "Sure, as long as James and Fluttershy over there don't mind."

She turned to James and Fluttershy, "James, Fluttershy, may I…"

James nodded, "Please Bravery, go on and have fun with your friends."

Bravery grinned from ear to ear and flew, or at least as much as she could "fly", over to James and hugged him around the legs, "Thanks James!"

She then turned to Fluttershy, who was now on the ground, and hugged her, "Thanks Fluttershy."

Fluttershy hugged her back and, just like that, Bravery ran off to join Alex, Scootaloo, Sweetie Bell and Apple Bloom as they set off.

"Alex, make sure she stays safe!"

"Will do man!" Alex said with a wave as they all headed off, the Cutie Mark Crusaders all waving and saying good-bye to James and Fluttershy.

As they disappeared from sight, James turned to Fluttershy, "You really are great with Bravery."

Fluttershy blushed, "Oh, it's nothing, really. She's such a great girl and I just love spending time with her."

James sat down on the ground next to Fluttershy and put his arm around her shoulder. She leaned into him as they continued to look out in the direction that the CMC and Alex had gone.

"Well if you spend anymore time with her, I'm going to get diabetes from the cuteness."

Fluttershy looked at James with a worried expression, "Oh no, I don't want you to get sick!"

James laughed, "It's just a figure of speech, I'm not going to really get diabetes just from looking at you and Bravery, it's just _unbearably_ cute."

Fluttershy seemed to understand and in response, gave James a quick peck on the cheek before turning her attention back to where she was looking before. James turned to look at her and smiled as well as he stroked her flowing pink mane, "Love you Fluttershy."

Fluttershy turned to James and smiled at him, "I love you too James."

**Ponyville**

"_Ah, such a nice day."_ Thought a green pegasus by the name of Castor, who was stopping by Ponyville to grab some food, landed to the ground before trotting off. he had a brown mane and tail, and his wings resembled those of a bat or a dragon more than the wings of other pegasi. He also was wearing a pair of glasses and a gold necklace with a blue and black stone in the middle of it, and his cutie mark was two lightning bolts. _"I really should stop by Ponyville more often, it's so quaint."_

As he continued to walk, he suddenly heard a scream from up above him He looked up to see a blue pegasus barreling towards him.

"LOOOK OOUUTTTT BELOOWWWWW!"

Castor quickly jumped to the side just as Ryan barreled into the ground, sliding past Castor, who just stared in shock as Ryan went by him.

Once Ryan stopped skidding, he let out a deep, aggravated sigh as Castor looked back at him with his eyebrow up, "Um…are you all right?"

Castor stuck his hoof out so Ryan could pull himself up. Ryan took hold of Castor's hoof and pulled himself up to his feet and shook his head, getting all of the dirt out of his mane, "Yeah I'm fine."

"What happened?" Castor asked.

"Inexperience." Said a tomboyish voice from behind Castor. He looked up to see Rainbow Dash hovering above, covering her mouth with her hooves as she tried to repress the laughter from Ryan's crash. "He's still getting used to flying."

"Shouldn't he know how to fly by now?" Castor asked as he noticed that Ryan was a fully grown pegasus.

"Consider him my very _special_ somepony." She said with emphasis on "special" as an attempt at humor at Ryan's expense.

Castor looked at Ryan and watched the blue pegasus trot over to Rainbow Dash, who landed with a face that was clearly trying to hold in a massive fit of the giggles, not just based on what she said but because of the entire situation; Ryan's clumsy flying and his messy appearance from the crash.

"Haha, very funny Dashie." Ryan mumbled as Rainbow Dash finally caved in and fell over backwards, laughing like she did when she first met Twilight.

"Hey man, I'm sorry I almost smashed into you." Ryan said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

Castor waved it off, "Nah man, it's cool. Hey listen I've got to get going; I came by Ponyville to grab some food. My name is Castor."

"Mine's Ryan, it's nice to meet you." Ryan said with a smile.

"Same, listen I have to get going but maybe I'll see you around." Castor looked over at Rainbow Dash, who was still having a massive giggle-fit, "and I'll see you around as well."

Rainbow Dash looked up at him, tears in her eyes from laughing so hard, "Nice...to...meet...you BWHAAAAA!"

Castor turned back to Ryan, who nodded, "See you later."

Castor and Ryan gave each other a quick brohoof before Castor flew off towards the Ponyville market. Once Castor was gone, Ryan turned to Rainbow Dash just as she finally finished laughing. "You done Miss Laugh-alot?"

Rainbow Dash nodded, "Oh yeah, sorry about that. It's just…" Rainbow Dash then snickered a little and looked away from Ryan to keep from laughing more just by seeing his face, "…you had the funniest expression when you were plummeting to the ground."

Rainbow Dash then did a quick impersonation of Ryan's face as he was falling, which Ryan had to admit was pretty funny.

However, instead of laughing and giving Rainbow Dash the satisfaction of knowing he found his own expressions humorous, Ryan simply responded by rolling his eyes and saying, "Whatever, let's just get back up in the air."

Rainbow Dash nodded and both pegasi launched into the air and began to fly off over Ponyville. While he still wasn't completely used to flying, hence the occasional crashes, Ryan was certainly much better than he had been at the start.

Not to mention, having Rainbow Dash as a mare-friend and trainer made the process of learning to fly much easier. She was strict and tough, but also understanding and kind, the perfect coach. He also had to admit that the assertive and coach-like personality she had when teaching him how to fly was cute as hell, and more than once she caught him blushing when she went into her "coach mode".

The result was Ryan being ordered to do 50 wing push-ups as punishment.

Eventually, Ryan had managed to earn his cutie mark, which was a scroll and quill in an "X" shape, signifying his love of writing. It would have looked like a cutie mark one would give Spike in a story where he turns into a pony, but Ryan's also had wings coming out of the sides of the "X", signifying his love of, apparently, flying with Rainbow Dash, as he still wasn't the most talented flier.

He wrote a lot, in fact he was currently writing about their battle with Discord, careful to leave out most of the graphic details that most ponies would be disturbed by. It was also a challenge to learn how to write with his mouth, which Rainbow Dash also had to teach him how to do. Eventually, he got the hang of it and was able to write almost perfectly using his mouth.

"Where are we going?" Ryan asked as he looked over at Rainbow Dash, who gave him a competitive smirk back.

"First one to reach that tree over there wins."

Ryan was about to protest, but Rainbow Dash gave him a smile that told him to _give it a go, it's just for fun_.

He then nodded and then turned forward, ready to take part in a race he knew that he would lose, "All right, on your mark, get set, Go!"

Both pegasi zoomed off at faster speeds, Ryan learning much of his speed flying from Rainbow Dash, as he often had to keep up with her while she coached him. He was quite surprised to see that he was keeping up with her quite well, something that he expected to get on Rainbow Dash's nerves.

But this is what Rainbow Dash wanted, she looked back at Ryan and stuck her tongue out tauntingly as she flew off at a faster rate, but nowhere near as fast as she really could go, because she wanted Ryan to have an actual chance of winning so he could gain some confidence.

She watched as Ryan caught up with her and then passed by her. She could have easily beaten him, but she decided to only fly so fast as to keep even with him. Ryan was flying as fast as he could, while Rainbow Dash just kept pace until they reached the tree.

"Wow!" Rainbow Dash stopped flying and turned to Ryan, who was clearly out of breath. "You almost beat me there Ryan, we tied!"

Ryan shook his head, "No, Dashie…you held back…I know you could have creamed me if you put everything into it."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, "Jeez, can't you give yourself _some_ credit and just enjoy the moment?"

Ryan looked up at Rainbow Dash and smiled, "I will when I beat you…for real."

"Unfortunately for you, _that_ will never happen." Rainbow Dash said with a sly grin on her face as she flew over to Ryan and patted his back with her hoof. "After all I am _the_ Rainbow Dash...the"

"The fastest flier in all of Equestria?" Ryan finished with a smile as he looked up at her, their eyes meeting each other.

Rainbow Dash held her hoof out to Ryan, "Take my hoof."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

Ryan sighed and grabbed it as best he could, which was hard without fingers, before Rainbow Dash pulled him off into the sky, flying horizontal to the ground. Ryan looked down at the small buildings that made up Ponyville, and all of the residents that trotted around, going through their daily routines, talking to each other, eating outside at the local cafes; Ryan was amazed. He used to be extremely afraid of heights, and the one exception he would ever make to his phobia was if he could be in the sky with Rainbow Dash. Soon, however, being a pegasus and getting flying lessons resulted in him not only losing his fear of heights, but also enjoying being high up in the sky.

As he and Rainbow Dash flew through the brilliant, white clouds, he suddenly felt himself get pulled around and then up by Rainbow Dash as she brought him higher, and higher, and higher into the air, the sun's heat hitting both ponies on the top of their manes as they eventually were so high up Ponyville looked like a town filled with specks.

But Ryan didn't notice, for as soon as they stopped flying up, Rainbow Dash pressed her lips against Ryan's, catching him off guard and making his eyes shoot open in surprise. He then relaxed and his eyes closed as he savored the moment with Rainbow Dash, the love of his life, as they kissed in mid-air, Ponyville just specks below them.

As they broke the kiss, Rainbow Dash looked at Ryan and smiled, "Was that close to your dream?"

Ryan nodded, realizing that she had just replicated the dream he so often had back on Earth, where he would imagine flying with Rainbow Dash and then kissing her in mid-air, something inspired by a fan-art picture of Soarin and Rainbow Dash kissing in mid-flight.

Ryan smiled, "Yeah…but it was better. Much better."

Rainbow Dash nuzzled Ryan chest affectionately, "I love you Ryan."

Ryan kissed the top of her head, right on her rainbow-colored mane, and smiled, "I love you too Dashie, and I'll never stop."

"Neither will I."

Rainbow Dash and Ryan gave each other a quick kiss before they broke their embrace and flew back off, closer to the ground and further from the sun.

**Twilight's Library**

"I'm back!" Twilight shouted. She closed the door to her library and walked over to where Carl was laying on the floor, his eyes busy scanning over the pages of the spell book Twilight had given him.

"Hey Carl." She said.

Carl looked up to see Twilight; his face showed a sign of relief, as if a great burden had been lifted off of his back. "Twilight, thank goodness you're here. I need help writing the letter to the Princess."

"The friendship report?" Twilight asked and Carl nodded.

"He literally has no idea what he's doing." Spike said over a book he was reading.

"Shut it dragon-boy." Carl spat back, only to get a response of Spike looking up at him with a cocky grin, happy that he had gotten onto Carl's nerves.

"Well," Twilight said as she walked over to a window, looking out at the bright, sunny day, so very different from the dark, orange-tinted sky back on Earth, "you have to write it about our experiences on Earth, right?"

Carl nodded and Twilight turned to Carl, "Well, why don't you compare the two realities and how it impacts the ponies here and the humans where you come from? After all there are quite a few differences."

Carl thought for a second before he nodded and turned to Spike, "Spike get the ink out, I think I know what to write."

Spike closed the book and placed it to the side as he got up off of the ground and ran over to the table where he put the paper and quill. He picked both up and walked back over to Twilight and Carl, ready to write. "Okay Carl, lay it on me."

Carl cleared his throat and began,

"Dear Princess Celestia,

I know usually when Twilight or one of her friends writes a friendship report, it's usually on one lesson that they've learned. But in my case I've learned a whole slew of them."

Carl closed his eyes and began to organize his thoughts before he continued.

"I learned how reality isn't strictly defined to what you see or experience, it also includes what you don't. Just because you don't believe something is possible or isn't real, doesn't mean it isn't. A cartoon world was real all along, even though I only believed that it was only fiction a month ago, I was proven wrong. I also learned how our world is so different from yours, and how two realities can be so radically different, and how one reality can being such joy to another…such as how yours has for us, even before you sent Twilight and the others to us. I learned the dangers of envy, and how letting it consume you can cause more problems than solutions. Not to mention people who are envious or desperate are often easy to manipulate. Respecting others and keeping oneself from falling into the trap that jealously lays is vital."

"But more than anything else, I learned how pure good could exist in people….or ponies in this case. Twilight and the others are truly amazing girls that know what true friendship is and even though most of us six guys lost faith in the idea of true friendship…and love…" Carl turned to Twilight, who just looked away to hide the blush that she had on her cheeks. She was also smiling, touched by Carl's words.

"…is possible. Even after everything that we've been though, our friendship remains strong, as does the love we have for our partners, and if it was able to stay strong through such darkness, chaos and complete tragedy, I know that it will stay strong for the rest of our lives, for we have all finally found harmony, both with ourselves and the ones we care about.

Your faithful subject,

Carl Lewis."

Carl sighed as Spike wrote down the last bit of Carl's letter. He looked up at Carl and grinned, "Got it."

"Brilliant." Carl said with a laugh, "Send it of Spike my man."

Spike smiled and gave Carl a salute, "Will do."

Just then, Carl turned around towards Twilight to see that she was smiling, but it wasn't a romantic smile, it was a devious one.

Before Carl could react, he looked down to see cheese in a can that was surrounded in a purple aura. Before he could respond, he was hit in the face with the contents. He closed his eyes just as the yellow foodstuff began to cover his face. Once the spraying ended, he heard Twilight burst out into laughter.

Carl wiped some of the cheese off of his face, spitting some that had gotten into his mouth, and glared at Twilight, "What was that for?"

"For writing such a "cheesy" letter." Twilight said with a wink. Carl looked at Twilight with a smile.

"You're so dead, you know that?"

Twilight stuck her tongue out and went "nah-nah" before she turned and ran out of the library, Carl right behind her, both of them laughing like little kids.

Spike smiled as he watched them go. He turned and ran up the stairs of the library to Twilight's room, where he opened the window to see the two purple unicorns tackle each other in the lawn outside of the library, still laughing playfully as they rolled around in the grass. They were so innocent; nopony could have guessed the amount of hell that they went through only a month before.

Spike smiled at the sight of Twilight and Carl before he remembered the letter he had to send. He held it out in front of him and used his fire to send it off to the Princess.

As the green mist that was carrying the letter off passed over Ponyville, it went over all six couples.

The green flame passed over the two unicorns who were now kissing each other as they lay in the grass.

The green flame passed over Sugarcube Corner, where Pete and Pinkie Pie were busy baking a huge batch of cupcakes together, giggling at their random humor.

The green flame passed over Carousel Boutique, where Rarity was busy gushing over all of the new designs that Louis had come up with.

The green flame passed over two pegasi that were on a cloud in a loving embrace as they napped peacefully.

The green flame passed over a small cottage where a teen boy was helping a timid pegasus put together a salad for her bunny, who was a very picky eater and was making the process of feeding him excruciatingly difficult.

The green flame passed over Alex and the four Cutie Mark Crusaders as they pondered the idea of bird watching being their special talent after a small robin landed nearby. Unknown to them, Applejack watched from a distance, smiling as the sight of Alex made her realize what a great guy she chose as her coltfriend.

All of them were happy and enjoying their new lives, feeling like they made the right choice, even if some of them did miss their old lives a bit, such as their families. At this point in time, they were all truly happy.

Eventually, the green flame carrying the letter reached Canterlot, and then the Princess' castle. The green mist-like fire stopped in front of the Princess. The letter re-appeared and unrolled. She read it to herself. Once she finished, she let out a small laugh.

"Thanks for the letter Carl, I'm glad you and the others have discovered true friendship." Princess Celestia then used her magic to roll up the scroll and let out a sigh, "and love."

**Final Author Notes:**

**Wow, I can't believe this story is done.**

**I also can't believe how well it's been received here on fanficiton. I didn't expect all of the views I've gotten since first posting it. Thank you to everyone who has read this story, I hope everything went in a direction that you were happy with. I also am more confident in my writing ability based on the reviews I've gotten. So thank you everyone. (now if only it got more views on FIMfiction lol)**

**To give credit where credit is due, this is the picture that inspired Ryan's dream at the start of the story up until this point: ( _images/20943%20-%20artist%3AMn27%20goggles%20kissing%20rainbow_dash%20shipping%20shocked%20Soarin'% ).**

**And I'd like to say I envy Ryan for having that dream, and I wish I could. Alas, I have not yet had a dream where I am flying with Rainbow Dash.**

**I also would like to add that a lot of this epilogue was thought up while listening to the song "Majestic" by LiquidCinema ( watch?v=Q-TZjuBDLRQ), truly one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard in my life.**

**Anyway, now that I'm done here, it's on to write some other non-MLP stuff for the time being (screenplays). As I've said before, I am not sure about a sequel. If there is one it won't be for a while. I might make some shorter stories based on the OC characters and their interactions with the ponies of Ponyville (like Bravery with the CMC or Pete and Lyra, something lighthearted and just for fun).**

** In fact, I'm curious to see which of my OC characters was the most popular (especially out of the six boys), and which were the least. If you decide to leave a review, let me know :)**

**Once more thing, if this story was made into a movie, would you go and see it? I only ask because if I decide to become a screenwriter and am given the very unlikely chance to make this into a movie I'd love to do so. Again, I'm only a 19 year old college student now, so nothing is happening at this point in time. I'm just a wishful thinker and like to hear some feedback lol.**

**So thank you for reading, reviewing and being such a great audience for this story.**

**And, for the last time on this story…**

**GO GIANTS! GO DASHIE!**

**GO PONIES!**


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